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WILLIAM McKEE DUNN 

BRIGADIER-GENERAL, U. S. A. 



a flDemoIr 



WILLIAM WESLEY WOOLLEN 



WITH EXTRACTS FROM HIS SPEECHES, DECISIONS 
AND CORRESPONDENCE 



(ffoc private Circulation) 



.T. 



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Printed and Bound by 

■Cbc Ivnicftcrliocftet prcS0, Wcw ^orh 

ti. F*. Putnam's Sons 



3g^vc> vjifeaCKS 



CONTENTS. 



Memoir ..,......! 

Family Trkk 87 

"The Loyal Family of Dunns." (Letter from 

General Dunn to Robert Cravens) ... 88 

Speeches : 

On ihe Conkiscation ok the Property of 

Rebels 104 

On the Bill Providing for the Enlistment of 
Negroes in the United States Military 

Service 124 

Speech Delivered hekorethe Ladies' National 

League of St. Louis 137 

After-Dinner Speech Delivered ap St. Louis, 

at a Dinner Given to General Grant . 143 
Minority Repoki- on the (^imcstion of the Exten- 
sion OF Slavery 147 

Resolutions of Condolence of Official Bodies of 

which General Dunn was a Member . .152 



WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 



William McKee Dunn, late Judge- 
Advocate-General of the United States 
Army, was of pure Scotch-Irish descent, 
and had most of the characteristics of 
that noted people. Patriotism, integrity, 
persistency, moral and physical courage, 
came to him by inheritance. 

The family on the father's side came 
originally from County Down, Ireland, 
where James Dunn, the great-grandfather 
of the subject of this biography, was born 
and reared. In early life he married 
Martha Long, and soon afterward the 
young couple emigrated to America, 
bringing with them their son Samuel, 
William McKee's grandfather. 

The family settled first in Pennsylvania, 
and removed afterward to Virginia, where 
Samuel grew to manhood. In 1774 Lord 



2 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

Dunmore raised an army in Virginia for 
the purpose of chastising the western 
Indians, who had been committing numer- 
ous depredations upon the settlers west 
of the Alleghanies. In this army Samuel 
Dunn was a soldier. Dunmore separated 
his army into two divisions, assigning 
General Lewis to the command of one 
division and himself retaining command 
of the other. Lewis was to cross the 
mountains and march down the Kanawha 
to its mouth, and there await the arrival 
of Dunmore, who was to come by way 
of Pittsburgh and of the Ohio River. 
But, on reaching Pittsburgh, Dunmore 
changed his plans and moved his division 
to the Indian towns on the Scioto, leav- 
ing Lewis to cope, single-handed, with the 
formidable chief Cornstalk and his follow- 
ers. On the loth of October, 1 774, he was 
attacked by this renowned chieftain, and 
the bloody battle of Point Pleasant was 
fought. In this engagement Samuel Dunn 
carried a musket and acquitted himself as 
one fit to be an ancestor of the subject of 
this biography. 



A MEMOIR. 3 

After the close of Dunmore's campaign, 
Samuel Dunn returned to his home. In the 
next year, 1775, he married Eleanor Brew- 
ster, daughter of James Brewster, of Rock- 
ingham County, Virginia. Her mother's 
maiden name was Eleanor Williamson, 
hence that family name. Samuel Dunn's 
name was enrolled in the Virginia Colonial 
Line, and, on the breaking out of the 
Revolutionary war, he enlisted for active 
service. Soon after the war had ended, 
he emiofrated with his wife and his two 
children to what is now the State of 
Kentucky, and took up his abode where 
now stands the town of Danville. Here, 
on the 25th of December, 1781, Wil- 
liamson Dunn, the father of William 
McKee Dunn, was born. He grew to 
manhood amid the dangers of the fron- 
tier, and became well fitted by education 
and associations for the part he was 
destined to play in the battle of life. He 
was strong and vigorous in body, cour- 
ageous in action, fearing only God. On 
the 25th of September, 1806, he mar- 
ried Miriam Wilson. The ceremony took 



4 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

place at the home of Mrs. Dunn's grand- 
father, Colonel William McKee, in Gar- 
rard County, Kentucky. Colonel McKee 
had commanded a company in that battle 
of Point Pleasant in which Samuel Dunn 
had fought, and was, like the Dunns, 
of Scotch-Irish descent. Mrs. Dunn's 
grandfather, Wilson, and two of his 
sons, were Presbyterian ministers. Her 
father- died when she was a child. They, 
too, were all of sturdy Scotch - Irish 
stock. 

In 1809, Williamson Dunn, with his 
young wife and two infant children, emi- 
grated to Indiana Territory, and fixed 
their abode where the town of Hanover 
now stands. He built a cabin and opened 
up a farm, but, being endowed with an 
active public spirit, he was often called 
from home to help put in motion the ma- 
chinery of a new government. He served 
as a judge of the Circuit Court and of 
the Court of Common Pleas, and when 
there was a call for men to repress In- 
dian hostilities, he unsheathed his sword 
and, at the head of a company of rangers, 



A MEMOIR. 5 

hastened in quest of the foe. It is not 
our purpose, however, to follow William- 
son Dunn in his career as a soldier, nor 
to refer to his services to the Territory 
and the State, further than to draw atten- 
tion to the influences which surrounded 
his son, the subject of this biography. 
That career and those services are part of 
the history of Indiana, and therein can be 
distinctly traced. 

On the 1 2th of December, 1814, there 
was born to Williamson Dunn and his 
wife a fifth child, a son, christened Wil- 
liam McKee, after his mother's maternal 
grandfather. 

The men who formed the community 
at Hanover were mostly Scotch-Irish Pres- 
byterians. The church and the school- 
house were therefore soon erected. A 
school was established, in which Latin, 
as well as mathematics and the English 
branches, was taught, and to this school 
William McKee was sent as soon as he 
was large enough to be enrolled as a pupil. 
In an address delivered at Hanover in 
1883 he has so graphically described the 



6 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

place where his studies began that we 
quote his own words : 

" Thus, now, my mental vision rests upon 
the school-house where I commenced the 
struggle with all the mysteries of Webster's 
Spelling-book. It stood on the ground where 
Dr. Spear afterwards built his residence, on the 
edge of the village. A strip of woods inter- 
vened between it and my father's residence, 
and the great poplar trees, in the springtime, 
used to drop their sweet bloom on the pathway 
of the children as they wended their way to 
school. The house was built of split logs put 
up edgewise ; the floor was of puncheons. The 
windows were made by cutting out parts of 
two logs next to and parallel to each other, 
and instead of glass, greased paper was used. 
There was a large chimney at each end of 
the house, built of stones, sticks, and clay. 
Long, inclined boards along the side and 
end of the school-house were made for 
those who were worrying with pothooks and 
other exercises in writing. There were no 
metallic pens in those days, and the making 
and mending of quill pens and setting copies 
occupied much of the time of the teachers in 
and out of school. All the benches were nar- 
row, hard, and without backs, and those for 
little children, as I well remember, were a 



A MEMOIR. 7 

weariness to the flesh. Nevertheless, the schol- 
ars generally were ruddy and happy, and, I 
suppose, were well instructed. The masters 
usually were Scotch or Irish, who believed in 
doing a good day's work every day themselves, 
and required the children to do the same. 
Good beech switches were always on hand, 
back of the teacher's chair, ready for use, and 
I can bear testimony that they zuere used. The 
excitement of the day commenced toward the 
close of school in the afternoon, when all the 
recitations were over except the spelling les- 
sons, and the children were told to learn them. 
These lessons we were permitted to learn aloud, 
and then Babel was turned loose. Every scholar, 
with his spelling-book in hand, spelled, or 
pretended to spell, the words at the very top 
of his voice. We almost made the clapboards 
on the roof rattle. Sometimes in the evening 
the older boys would have exercises in dia- 
logues and declamations. I can now almost 
see the tallow-dips and the lard, Aladdin-shaped, 
lamps that used dimly to illuminate the school- 
house on such occasions. But boys and girls 
were being educated in that school-house who 
have since appeared where the gaslight burned 
brightly." 

It w^as in such houses as this and amid 
such surroundings that most of the chil- 



8 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

dren of the Western pioneers obtained 
their education. Few of them, however, 
received the advantages of the sons of 
WilHamson Dunn, who, from his high 
estimate of the value of learning, were all 
liberally taught, even when measured by 
the educational standards of the present 
day. 

In May, 1820, Judge Dunn received the 
appointment of Register of the Land Of- 
fice at Terre Haute ; but, though he ac- 
cepted the appointment, he did not remove 
his family to that place. In March, 1823, 
Congress having made a large addition to 
the land district, the land office was re- 
moved to Crawfordsville. Here, in the 
fall of the same year, he came with his 
family, again taking up his abode in the 
wilderness. Soon the church and the 
school-house appeared. Chester Hol- 
brook, who had taught Judge Dunn's chil- 
dren in the Hanover school, was persuaded 
to remove to Crawfordsville and resume 
his instructions there. Of the school 
which Mr. Holbrook established, Judge 
Dunn was a liberal supporter, sending to 



A MEMOIR. 9 

it six of his children, and aiding it with 
his influence in every way he could. Wil- 
liam McKee was a student in the school 
and many years afterward said of his 
teacher : " Mr. Holbrook was unsur- 
passed as a faithful and efficient teacher." 
The instructor boarded with Judge Dunn. 

In May, 1826, the subject of this biog- 
raphy entered the State Seminary at 
Bloomington as a student. His elder 
brothers, James, Samuel, and John, were 
already students there. The father was a 
member of the first board of trustees, con- 
tinued on the board during all the time 
the seminary existed, and served on the 
board of trustees after it had been turned 
into a college. To no person are Hano- 
ver College, at Hanover, and Wabash 
College, at Crawfordsville, so much in- 
debted for their existence ; and the State 
University, at Bloomington, had in him 
a zealous patron and friend. No man did 
more to establish educational institutions 
in Indiana than Williamson Dunn. 

In an address delivered at Bloominof- 
ton, in June, 1876, General Dunn gives 



lO WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

this beautiful and vivid account of his 
journey to Bloomington, and of his ca- 
reer as a student at the seminary and 
college : 

"A few days before the opening of the ses- 
sion, May 1st, 1826, if you had been here to 
look, you might have seen emerging from the 
green woods north of Bloomington, * a man 
on horseback,' and, as his horse veered from one 
side of the road to another to avoid a stump 
or mud hole, you might have seen that there 
was riding behind the man on the same horse 
a little speck of a boy about eleven years of 
age. They were father and son, but the son 
was so small that it was considered a useless 
waste of horse power to furnish him individu- 
ally with a horse for this journay. They had 
thus ridden all the way from Crawfordsville, 
then a two days' journey on horseback. Be- 
tween Crawfordsville and Greencastle it was 
then an almost unbroken wilderness, and these 
travellers had made part of their way through the 
woods along an Indian trace. The boy enjoyed 
the ride, for sweet was the breath of spring in 
the green wild-woods, the aroma of the spice 
bush perfumed the air, and the bloom of the 
dogwood and the redbud with blended beauty 
adorned the green-leafed forest. These were 
forests indeed — not thickets, but open parks 



A MEMOIR. II 

of grenadier trees, great poplars and tulip-trees, 
black walnuts, shell-bark hickory, oak, and 
sugar-trees, giants of their kind. Underneath 
their high spreading branches men could ride 
on horseback, and, indeed, these travellers more 
than once in their journey saw parties of land 
hunters riding about through the woods, exam- 
ining the surveyors' marks on the trees and 
making selections of public lands for entry at 
the Crawfordsville Land Office. These land- 
hunters generally travelled in parties for mutual 
protection. They carried with them their 
rifles — old-fashioned flint-lock rifles — with a 
leather cover over the lock to protect the prim- 
ing from getting wet. Greencastle was at that 
time an insignificant place, and there were no 
houses between it and the falls of Eel River, a 
distance of ten miles. This side of Eel River, 
and particularly this side of White River, the 
country was more settled, and the neighbor- 
hood of Bloomington was comparatively an old 
settled country — that is, it had been settled 
some eight or ten years. 

" As the travellers rode into Bloomington, 
the eyes of the boy rested with wondering ad- 
miration upon the court-house. He had never 
before seen so grand an edifice. It was won- 
derful in his eyes, and the fish for a vane was 
another marvel. He had never before seen 
what appeared to be a fish of gold, nor a fish 



12 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

SO high in the air, nor a fish with an iron rod 
through it. In the midst of the boy's excited 
interest in that fish, the journey was ended at 
the door of his uncle, Dr. David H. Maxwell. 
The father swung the little fellow down off the 
horse, and father and son were soon most affec- 
tionately welcomed in that hospitable home. 

" That little boy was my father — in the sense 
of the saying, ' The boy is the father of the 
man.' 

" In a few days he (I) was admitted as a 
student in the State Seminary, then regarded 
as the highest and best school in the State ; 
was introduced to Ross* Latin Grammar, and 
was soon nearly worrying the life out of poor 
* Stella, a star,' in putting her through the cases 
of the first declension. 

" According to my recollection, there were 
but nine students at the seminary that session, 
of whom I was the smallest, but Dr. Darwin 
Maxwell was the youngest. Perhaps I might 
as well say now that I was a student here in 
the seminary and in the college six and a half 
years, and was the first graduate of Indiana 
College who commenced, continued, and com- 
pleted his entire preparatory and collegiate 
course in this institution. At the first organi- 
zation of the students into regular college clas- 
ses, I constituted the sophomore class, and for 
an entire session I had a bench all to myself 



A MEMOIR. 13 

at college prayers, by virtue of my being all the 
sophomores. 

" The building in which I took my course of 
instruction here was torn down long ago, and 
when I return and look in vain for that dear 
old house, my feelings are, I imagine, some- 
thing like those of the bee, which, after being 
absent a long while in search of honey, on its 
return finds the hive and all gone. 

" There I enjoyed the blessing of good and 
faithful instruction, first under Professor Hall ; 
alone later I enjoyed the additional instruction 
of Professor Harney ; and later still that of 
President Wylie. They have all passed away, 
but their memories will always be cherished 
with tender and grateful affection by all who 
sat under their instruction. 

" In that old house, too, I formed friendships 
wnth classmates and fellow-students which have 
lasted through this half century. 

"There, too, fifty years ago, was held the 
first exhibition given by the students of the 
seminary — declamations of selected pieces — 
nothing original was attempted. 

" Never did a drill-sergeant put raw recruits 
through a severer drill than Professor Hall put 
us through, in preparation for that first exhi- 
bition. My eldest brother, whose name with 
the fatal prefix of a star, stands first on the 
catalogue of the graduates of this college, de- 



14 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

claimed a selection on astronomy. I can see 
him now, as he stood on the stage then. He 
had a form of manly grace, and a soft, impres- 
sive voice. His speech closed with the em- 
phatic exclamation, ' An undevout astronomer 
is mad!' Through this long half-century I 
have scarcely ever surveyed the heavens, the 
moon and the stars, which our Creator ordained, 
but I have seemed to hear that voice and ex- 
clamation, ' An undevout astronomer is mad ! ' 
It has come to me in mid-ocean, when walking 
the deck alone at night, with * water, water 
everywhere ' around, and the starry heavens 
above, myself but a speck, on a speck of a ship, 
on a speck of a world: 'An undevout astron- 
omer is mad ! ' Looking up into the starry 
firmament, I have repeated it over and over, 
adding this verse, committed to memory to 
recite at a Sabbath-school kept in that same 
old house: 

' Thy throne eternal ages stood, 
Ere seas or stars were made ; 
Thou art the ever-living God 
Were all the nations dead ! ' 

" In that old house, too, was the hall of the 
literary society, beloved of my soul, ' quorum 
pars fui' A well conducted literary society 
in a college is a most important, if not indis- 
pensable, supplement to the collegiate course 
of study. I have certainly felt, ever since I 



A MEMOIR. 15 

left college, the benefits of the friendly criti- 
cisms, rivalries, and encouragements of my 
brothers beloved of the Philomathean Society. 
Nor have I forgotten how our ambition was 
stimulated, and with what earnest efforts we 
strove to carry off the palm of victory in our 
contests with our worthy rival, the Athenian 
Society. But the old Philomathean Hall is 
torn down, and all the records of the period of 
my membership are burned up, so that I feel as 
though I had neither place nor name in the 
Society, to promote whose interests I gave my 
best efforts while I was a student of this col- 
lege." 

While McKee (in the family he was 
called by that name) v;^as a student at 
Bloomington, a great sorrow befell him — 
one that saddened him to the end of his 
life. It was the death of his mother, 
which occurred at Crawfordsville, October 
20th, 1827. Among his papers, found 
after his death, is one written while he 
was a student at Yale, giving an account 
of his last parting from his mother, and 
of his return home after she had died : 

" The last day " (he writes) " of that time by 
students esteemed so precious — the college va- 
cation — was now pa§t, and I retired to my bed 



1 6 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

weeping that on the morrow I must bid my 
home farewell for another long term. After 
a night of unrefreshing sleep and troubled 
dreams, I awoke and found all things ready for 
my departure. I had been from home before ; 
but never did I leave with such overpowering 
feelings of sorrow. Oh ! how hard it is to give 
the parting hand to parents, brothers, and sis- 
ters, all that we hold most dear, and go solitary 
and alone to the land of strangers ! I was young 
— but thirteen — yet I was ashamed to exhibit 
so much feeling as I did on this occasion. A 
stranger might have denominated my over- 
powering sorrow as silly babyishness. I could 
summon no stoicism to my assistance ; it had 
all vanished, and when, last of all, I clasped the 
hand of my dear, dear mother, the fountains of 
my heart were all broken open. The presenti- 
ment flashed upon my mind with all the vivid- 
ness of reality, that her hand I should never 
again press, that my eyes were resting for the 
last time upon her beloved face, and that upon 
those lips of affection I should never again im- 
print a meeting kiss. As I tore myself from 
her embrace, interrupted by her feelings, she 
softly whispered, "My son, remember thy Cre- 
ator in the days of thy youth." Oh ! I shall 
never, never forget the look of love and the 
tone of kindness in which that last, that part- 
ing admonition was delivered. No, sainted 



A MEMOIR. 17 

spirit of my departed mother, I can never for- 
get thee ; thy image and thy farewell admo- 
nition are engraved upon my heart as indelibly 
as lines traced with the diamond's point upon 
a plate of adamant. 

" The term (at college) had nearly expired 
when I was confined to my room a few days 
with an attack of quinsy, but was looking for- 
ward with joyous anticipations to my speedy 
recovery and return to my beloved home. I 
was lying upon my bed looking out of my win- 
dow one cold, rainy evening, when a traveller 
rode up to my boarding-house, inquired forme, 
and handed my roommate a letter directed to 
me. At a glance I recognized the superscrip- 
tion to be in the handwriting of my father. 
What pleasure it affords an absent child to 
receive a letter from home! I tore open my 
father's letter in a transport of joy. But, oh ! 
how suddenly was my joy turned to bitterness 
and lamentation when my eyes at the first glance 
rested upon these words : ' My son, hasten, 
hasten home. Your dear mother is dangerously 
ill.' I would have started immediately in the 
night and rain, indisposed as I was, but kind 
friends prevented me. My grief, to which I 
could set no bounds, was too much for my 
feeble state of health to bear, and I fell into a 
slow fever that for three days prevented my 
departure. Kind Heaven, in mercy spare me the 



1 8 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

experience of three such days again. Oh ! the 
agony of uncertainty, the contests between hope 
and fear that agitated my bosom. My mother, 
my dying mother was constantly before me! Oh! 
how vividly did I then recollect her every look 
and word of affection, and in what bitter review 
did pass before my eyes every act of disobedi- 
ence and unkindness that I had been guilty of 
towards her! 'T is true, I could accuse myself 
of no gross act of unkindness towards her, and 
she had often, kissing me, said that I was very 
good to her ; but I recollected a thousand little 
things in which I had not pleased her, and as 
many opportunities of gratifying her that I had 
allowed to pass unimproved. These neglects 
my feelings magnified into crimes huge as 
mountains, and I prayed to Heaven that her 
life might be spared, that I might claim her 
forgiveness, and by a life of devotion prove 
how much I prized her love, and how great the 
obligations of gratitude I considered myself 
under to her. 

" On the morning of the fourth day I set out 
for home in company with a friend. We had 
travelled about twenty miles and were riding 
at a pretty fast rate along the bank of a beauti- 
ful river, when, at a sudden turn of the road, 
we met a traveller on horseback. His coun- 
tenance I thought familiar to me, and, turning 
around after he had passed, his face was full 



A MEMOIR. 19 

upon me and I recognized in him an uncle, 
whom I had not seen for several years, who 
was now returning from a visit to my father's. 
He knew me at first sight, but, seeing that he 
was not recollected, had intended to pass me 
that he might be spared the of^ce of com- 
municating to me the painful intelligence of my 
mother's death. And, indeed, he was spared 
the pain of doing so orally. The broad scarf 
upon his hat told me in language that could 
not be misunderstood that his sister — my 
mother — was no more. The strongest cord 
that bound me to earth was now severed. 

"At my request my friend turned back, and 
I was left to pursue the remaining part of 
my journey alone. Oh ! the luxury of soli- 
tude ! If there be in grief a solace it is the 
opportunity of venting our sorrow where 
there is none to observe or chide — to pour 
out our sorrows where there is none but 
the ear of God to hear. My journey lay 
through a country yet but partially reclaimed 
from the wilderness. The echo of the distant 
axe falling occasionally upon the ear told 
that the hand of industry was busy, and that 
soon the forest should ' bud and blossom as 
the rose.' 

" The next day the first glimpse of my home 
fell upon my eyes. As I drew near, no brother, 
or sister, no mother, came with joyous counte- 



20 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

nance to meet her returning son. The doors of 
my paternal home were all closed. Softly I 
opened the door of my mother's room. There 
was her chair, her Bible, her sewing-table, 
everything to remind me of her. I looked 
upon the scene before me for a moment, a 
dizziness seized my brain, and I fainted away. 
When I recovered, my father, my brothers, and 
my sisters were all around me, not with coun- 
tenances beaming with joy at my return, but 
suffused with tears, for my arrival and affliction 
had caused the fountains of their sorrow to 
gush forth afresh. 

" The sun had now declined beneath the 
western horizon, and the pale moon had taken 
up its watch in the eastern sky, when, with an 
older brother, I went to visit the spot hallowed 
by my mother's remains. We entered a dark 
and gloomy grove. A few moonbeams piercing 
through the thick veil formed by the inter 
locking branches of the oak and the poplar, re- 
vealed the place where were buried the few 
who had fallen in this new, and yet but thinly 
settled, country. No sculptured monuments 
rose to designate the different spots where those 
few were buried. No ; it was unnecessary. A 
death was not an every-day occurrence, and 
therefore when it did occur, the whole com- 
munity felt the loss and mingled their tears 
with the bereaved. They cherished the virtues 



A MEMOIR. 21 

of the deceased. The wild grass which grew 
over the grave was watered by their tears, and 
therefore no tombstone was necessary to mark 
the place. My brother pointed in silence to 
the grave, which, from its recent and yellow 
earth, I knew to be my mother's. I threw my- 
self upon it and poured forth floods of grief 
from my streaming eyes. Willingly — nay, 
gladly — would I have pillowed my head upon 
the cold bosom of my mother and been forever 
enclosed in the damp grave to which she was 
committed. What to me was life but the 
prison which confined me from the society of 
my mother. What was death but the gate by 
which I might enter into a union with her, to 
which there should be no termination. 

"As I lay overpowered by grief, there arose 
from that grave again the admonition, ' My 
son, remember thy Creator in the days of thy 
youth.' 

" I have wandered far from the land of my 
nativity, from the spot consecrated by the re- 
mains of her who deserved and who possessed 
the most ardent and devoted attachments of 
my heart ; but still that parting exhortation 
has been a talisman to protect me in every 
danger. I have looked out upon the sea of 
pleasure ; the gay barks that danced upon its 
bosom have delighted my vision, and I have 
resolved to commit myself to its waves. But 



22 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

the warning voice, * My son,' broke my purpose 
and rescued me from ruin. In my bosom has 
glowed the fire of ambition ; my heart has 
thrilled at the praises of the great and the 
powerful ; I have bowed down at the shrine of 
worldly honor, — but the recollection of my 
mother and her last advice has directed my 
devotions to another deity." 

In all his after life he never referred to 
his mother but in words expressive of the 
most tender love and veneration. 

When McKee became a student of the 
State Seminary, Rev. Baynard R. Hall 
was its sole teacher. 

The State Seminary became a college 
in 1828, its faculty being Prof. Hall, Prof. 
John H. Harney (afterwards so well 
known as editor of the Louisville Demo- 
crat), and Dr. Andrew Wylle. Dr. Wylie 
was president of the college, and held the 
place many years, both to its honor and 
his own. For six years McKee Dunn 
was a student here, taking his degree In 
1832, and being the first graduate who 
had gone through all the college classes. 
He was then less than eighteen years of 



A MEMOIR. 23 

age ; but, young as he was, Dr. Wylie 
desired that he should become a professor 
in the college. About the time of his 
graduation. Dr. Wylie wrote to Judge 
Dunn, asking that McKee should remain 
at Bloomington during the summer vaca- 
tion and pursue certain studies with a view 
of fitting him for a place in the faculty, it 
being understood that Prof. Hall would 
resign. Judge Dunn sent the letter to 
his son, and allowed him to use his own 
judgment in regard to accepting the pro- 
posal. There were feuds, unhappily, in 
the college at the time, in which he did 
not care to become involved, so that, 
declining the proposal, he soon, after 
obtaining his degree, returned to his 
father's home in Hanover. To be offered 
a professorship in the leading educational 
institution of the State was a great com- 
pliment for one so young ; and had he 
accepted it, he would no doubt have done 
credit to the position, as he did to every 
other position assigned to him during his 
long and active career. 

Hanover College was chartered by the 



24 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

Legislature of Indiana, January i, 1833, 
and the college classes were organized the 
following May. Mr. Dunn was chosen 
to be principal of the preparatory depart- 
ment, and, entering upon his duties at 
the commencement of the first session of 
the college, served in that position for the 
ensuing two years. Many of his pupils 
were older than himself ; but he had their 
respect and confidence in an unusual 
degree. So successful, indeed, was he as 
an instructor that the board of trustees 
of the college, at the end of two years, 
elected him Professor of Mathematics, 
and gave him a year's leave of absence. 
He was anxious to equip himself in the 
best manner that he could for whatever 
duties might devolve upon him, and em- 
braced the time which had thus been 
given him to take a post-graduate course 
at Yale College. He was still a minor, 
but was already a graduate of a leading 
Western college and a professor-elect of 
another. Probably no young man ever 
entered Yale under more flattering condi- 
tions ; and that he was well received and 



A MEMOIR. 25 

treated with the consideration which his 
talents and acquirements deserved, will be 
apparent to those who further pursue this 
biography. 

On the 2ist of April, 1S35, M^- Dunn 
left Hanover for New Haven. He pur- 
sued his journey very leisurely, visiting 
the various cities of interest, and reached 
his destination May i8th. 

He had been in New Haven but a very 
brief time when he was visited by Mr. 
Moses Hoge Hunter, whom he had known 
in the West. Between these grentlemen 
there grew up an intimacy and friendship 
which ended only at General Dunn's death. 

Mr. Dunn took with him to New Haven 
a letter to President Day, of Yale, from 
the Faculty of Hanover College. He 
also bore letters of introduction to other 
prominent persons in New Haven, among 
which was one from Senator William 
Hendricks, of Indiana, to Senator Smith, 
of Connecticut. 

Mr. Dunn went much into society at 
New Haven. He had access to the best 
homes in the city, and formed many inti- 



26 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

mate friendships. He was of fine person, 
of courtly manners, and unexceptionable 
habits. He was punctual in his recita- 
tions and thorough in his studies. He was 
always present at the exercises in the 
lecture-room and in the church, and in all 
respects demeaned himself as became a 
student and a gentleman. He was laying 
a foundation upon which he builded well 
— the establishment of a reputation which 
stood conspicuous among the great of the 
land. 

On the 24th of August, Mr. Dunn left 
New Haven for Boston, arriving there 
the same day. He bore with him letters 
of introduction to several Boston people, 
among them Justice Story and Daniel 
Webster. While in Boston, he viewed 
all the places of note in that city. Faneuil 
Hall, Bunker Hill and Boston Common 
were visited, and his reflections upon them 
are duly recorded in his journal. 

Mr Dunn was now near to his majority. 
On the I ith of December he writes thus : 

"Farewell to my minority— this day is the 
last of it. Oh, that I enjoyed the conscious- 



A MEMOIR. 27 

ness of having spent my boyhood and my youth 
in a proper manner." 

The next day he made this entry : 

" Hail to the day that gave me birth ! To 
the day that entitles me to the name and the priv- 
ileges of an American citizen — Hail ! Now I 
have entered upon my majority — upon the 
privileges, the responsibilities, and the account- 
abilities of a man. Oh, that it were only upon 
the opportunities, the indulgences, and the 
admonitions of my teens ! " 

In the spring of 1836 Mr. Dunn re- 
ceived from Yale College a diploma as a 
post-graduate, and soon afterward returned 
to Hanover. 

In a public address, delivered many 
years afterward, he speaks thus of his 
return to Hanover : 

"When I returned, I entered upon the 
duties of Professor of Mathematics. Prof. 
Harney, who had previously filled that posi- 
tion, had, at his own request, been transferred 
to the chair of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, 
etc. Although my duties as Professor of 
Mathematics were far easier than those I had 
discharged as Principal of the Preparatory 
Department, the pay was much better — eight 



28 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

hundred dollars per annum. I have found, 
through the experience of a long life, that 
usually the higher the position, and the better 
the pay, the less is the drudgery to be per- 
formed." 

In July, 1837, a tornado did great dam- 
age to the college building at Hanover. 
The institution was thus placed in such 
straitened circumstances that Mr. Dunn 
at the end of the session, resigned his 
place in the faculty. In referring to this 
event, he says, in the address previously 
named : 

" I severed my relations with the faculty 
and students with great regret, the most cor- 
dial good-will having always existed between 
us." 

He now determined to be a lawyer, and 
entered upon his legal studies under 
the tuition of Honorable Miles C. 
Eggleston, of Madison, then, and for 
many years before and afterward, a dis- 
tinguished circuit judge. In due time 
he was licensed to practise, and soon 
afterward opened an ofifice in New Albany, 
Indiana. He had now fairly entered 



A MEMOIR. 29 

upon the theatre of Hfe, and was master 
of a profession which insured him a sup- 
port. His affections were already en- 
gaged, and on the nth of March, 1841, 
he married Ehzabeth Frances Lanier, 
eldest daughter of James F. D. Lanier. 
He took his wife to New Albany, but soon 
afterward, having formed a partnership 
with Stephen C. Stevens, an ex-judge of 
the Indiana Supreme Court, returned to 
Madison, where he resided until he en- 
tered the army. The firm of Stevens & 
Dunn having been dissolved, Mr. Dunn 
became the partner of Michael G. Bright. 
When Mr. Bright, having been elected 
Agent of State, retired from the practice, 
Mr. Dunn associated himself with Mr. 
John A. Markley ; and when Mr. Markley, 
in 1847, enlisted in the army, Abram W. 
Hendricks became his partner, and the 
two remained together until the breaking 
out of the Civil war. 

The firm of Dunn & Hendricks had a 
large and lucrative practice, and in repu- 
tation ranked with the best firms in the 
State. 



30 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

During the time that Mr. Dunn prac- 
tised law at Madison, he was a leader in 
every movement having for its object the 
increase of the prosperity of the city. 
He served also as President of the Madi- 
son Branch of the Bank of the State of 
Indiana, and for several years as School 
Examiner. In politics, Mr. Dunn was first 
a Whig, and after that party had ceased to 
exist he became a Republican. In 1848 
the Whigs nominated him for the Legis- 
lature, and in August he was elected, lead- 
ing his ticket, as he did always in Jefferson 
County when a candidate. 

The Legislature of 1848-9 was com- 
posed of men exceptionally strong, and 
among these Mr. Dunn stood in the fore- 
most rank. He was appointed a member 
of the Judiciary Committee, and, after the 
committees had been announced, was 
added by a vote of the House to the 
Committee on Education. This was no 
ordinary tribute, for among the really 
important questions that were to engage 
attention stood conspicuous that of com- 
mon schools, the voters of the State having 



A MEMOIR. 31 

already decided at the late election in 
favor of a tax to establish and support 
free schools. The Committee on Educa- 
tion, early in the session, reported a bill 
" to increase and extend the benefits of 
common schools." Mr. Dunn championed 
it, and gave it his most strenuous support. 
It levied a tax of ten cents on each one 
hundred dollars' valuation of the property 
of the State, and provided for the neces- 
sary machinery to put the schools in mo- 
tion. The enemies of the bill endeavored 
to destroy it by amendments, but its friends 
successfully resisted this form of attack, 
and passed the measure as it came from 
the Committee. 

In a speech delivered in the House, 
Mr. Dunn declared himself in favor of 
free schools, and said he was " proud to 
say that the county of Jefferson [the 
county he represented] had given a ma- 
jority of more than three to one in their 
favor. All that the people of that county 
ask, is a fair, equal, economical, and effi- 
cient system, and such a system the Com- 
mittee on Education had endeavored to 



32 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

present." The people of Indiana are to 
be congratulated that so earnest and able 
an advocate of free schools appeared on 
the theatre of action at this critical period 
in the legislation of the State. 

It was by this Legislature also that an 
act was passed to take the sense of the 
people upon calling a convention to revise 
and amend the constitution of the State. 
Mr. Dunn warmly favored the measure. 

Early in the session a resolution having 
been introduced into the House relating 
to the extension of slavery, it was referred 
to a special committee of which Mr. Dunn 
was a member. The Committee could not 
agree, and majority and minority reports 
were presented. The report of the minority 
was presented by Mr. Dunn, and signed 
by him and two other members. He rep- 
resented a border county — a constituency 
that largely sympathized with slavery, — 
and his home was in sight of a slave State. 
But his father had left his birthplace and 
the State in which he had grown to man- 
hood, and cast his lot among pioneers of 
the wilderness, in order that he and his 



A MEMOIR, 33 

children might breathe the air of freedom. 
All his sons had inherited his liberty-lov- 
ing principles, and none to a greater de- 
gree than William McKee. He not only 
signed the minority report, but addressed 
the House in favor of its adoption. 

During this session of the Legislature, 
Hon. Samuel Goodenow, who represented 
Jefferson County in the Senate, having 
died, obituary resolutions passed the Sen- 
ate and were transmitted to the House. 
Mr. Dunn advocated their adoption by 
an appreciative and beautiful speech, which 
so won the favor of the House that it 
directed it to be spread upon the journal, 
— a very unusual if not an unprecedented 
proceeding. 

Mr. Dunn's career in the Legrislature 
gave him great prominence in the State, 
and caused his party friends in the district 
in which he resided to look to him as the 
natural leader of their forces. Accord- 
ingly, when the district convention was 
held in Charlesto'wn, in the spring of 
1849, h^ was unanimously nominated for 
Congress. He accepted the honor, and 



34 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

made a careful canvass of the district, 
speaking in most of the townships. His 
opponent was Cyrus L. Dunham, who 
was elected ; but Mr. Dunn's vote was 
greater than that of any other candidate 
on his party's ticket. The canvass which 
he made enabled him to make an acquaint- 
ance which was of advantage to him in 
his profession, and added to his reputation 
as an effective and able public speaker. 

The Legislature of Indiana at its ses- 
sion of 1849-50 passed a law providing 
for a convention " to alter, amend, or re- 
vise the constitution of the State." The 
time was auspicious for the work, as there 
has never been an era in the history of 
the country when party spirit was at a 
lower ebb. The leading parties were the 
Whig and Democratic, and the lines be- 
tween them were but faintly drawn. Ex- 
cept upon the subject of slavery, which 
at that time was distracting the country, 
there was little division among the people 
on political questions. For this reason, 
when they came to select the delegates 
to the convention, political considerations 



A MEMOIR. 35 

were but slightly regarded. In the Whig 
county of Jefferson, William McKee 
Dunn and Milton Gregg, Whigs, and 
Michael Graham Bright, Democrat, were 
chosen delegates, — Mr. Dunn, as usual, 
receiving more votes than any of his com- 
petitors. Mr. Gregg was an oil manufac- 
turer of Madison, and was both a speaker 
and writer of note. Mr. Bright was an 
eminent lawyer. The three were able 
men, and deeply impressed themselves 
upon the convention. The good-sense of 
the people of Indiana, in holding party 
spirit in abeyance while they were electing 
their delegates, bore the best of fruit. 
Men were chosen who, for character and 
ability, formed a body equal to any that 
has ever been chosen to perform a similar 
duty. 

Of the members of the convention, 
Schuyler Colfax and Thomas A. Hen- 
dricks afterward became Vice-Presidents 
of the United States ; two became United 
States Senators — John Pettit and Thomas 
A. Hendricks ; eleven — Schuyler Colfax, 
Robert Dale Owen, David Kilgore, James 



36 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

Lockhart, Smith Miller, Thomas Smith, 
William S. Holman, Thomas A. Hen- 
dricks, William McKee Dunn, James B. 
Foley, and Alvin P. Hovey were elected 
Representatives in Congress. Mr. Col- 
fax, one of them, was elected Speaker of 
the House of Representatives for several 
terms. 

David Wallace, an ex-Governor of In- 
diana, was a member of the convention, as 
was also Samuel Hall, an ex-Lieutenant- 
Governor. Thomas A. Hendricks and 
Alvin P. Hovey were afterwards Governors 
of the State. Horace P. Biddle, John Pet- 
tit, and Alvin P. Hovey became Supreme 
Judges of the State, and James Borden, 
Robert Dale Owen, and Alvin P. Hovey 
were sent abroad to represent their coun- 
try at foreign courts. The secretary of 
the convention was William H. English, 
afterwards a member of Congress, and in 
1880 his party's candidate for Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States. Surely it was 
no small honor to be a member of this 
august body, and a fellow-member with 
these distinguished men. 



A MEMOIR. 37 

In the orofanization of the constitu- 
tional convention of 1850, party lines 
were set at naught, and in its proceedings 
the least inclination to partisan action was 
promptly suppressed. No member was 
more in accord with this action than 
Mr. Dunn. In discussing the subject of 
banks, he said that for himself he " would 
just as soon think of carrying a political 
party question into the sacred pulpit, as 
of introducing such a question upon the 
floor of the convention." "So long," he 
affirmed, "as I may be called to remain 
in my place in this convention, I shall be 
very careful not to utter one word which 
may indicate even the existence of two 
such parties in this country as the Whig 
and Democratic parties." The record of 
the convention bears witness that he kept 
within the lines he had marked out, and 
that he had great influence upon the con- 
duct of others. A leading member of the 
convention declared in debate that " so 
little of party feeling had been manifested 
that he had almost forgotten he was a 
Whig." 



38 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

The debates of the convention com- 
prise two large volumes, and to refer in 
detail to the important questions dis- 
cussed by Mr. Dunn would require one 
to prepare an epitome of its work. We 
shall name but a few. 

Mr. Dunn had faith in the intelligence 
and virtue of the people. He was willing 
to trust them to make laws for their own 
government, and had well-defined opinions 
as to their rights. In one of his speeches 
he declared : " I am clearly of opinion 
that the convention should impose as few 
restrictions as possible upon the legis- 
lative department, and those only which 
are clearly and absolutely necessary." 
This speech was made early in the session, 
and no doubt had great influence in de- 
termining the final action of the conven- 
tion in reference to legislative restriction. 

He advocated the principle of allowing 
the people to enact such laws as they de- 
sired, and near the close of the session 
combated a proposition to take from the 
Legislature certain of its formerly well 
recognized powers. 



A MEMOIR. 39 

" My greatest fear," said he, " is that our 
new constitution will contain too many restric- 
tions upon the will of the people. 
It is far better to err in the exercise of a too 
generous confidence in the wisdom of future 
legislatures than to assume that the safety of 
the people is wholly dependent upon the su- 
perior wisdom and foresight of this honorable 
body." 

The constitution of 1816 permitted the 
enactment of laws authorizing imprison- 
ment for debt. The sentiment of the 
people, when the constitution of 1850 
was being considered, was nearly uni- 
versal asfainst such laws. Mr. Dunn dis- 
cussed the question, and declared himself 
in favor of a constitutional provision 
prohibiting imprisonment for debt, but 
against allowing its provisions to extend 
to fraudulent debtors. Strictly honest 
himself, he had but little charity for dis- 
honesty in others. He declared he "had 
no patience with the rascal who obtained 
property never intending to pay for it." 
" I am in favor," he said, '' of imprisoning 
all the fraudulent scoundrels in the State." 
This sentiment was characteristic of the 



40 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

Speaker and of the family from which he 
sprung. 

The most elaborate speech made by 
Mr. Dunn in the convention was upon 
the subject of banks. He discussed the 
question in its various aspects, and the 
convention wisely adopted provisions in 
accordance with his views. 

It is impossible to measure correctly 
the influence which Mr. Dunn exerted in 
the convention. How much he did to 
banish passion and party feeling from its 
deliberations cannot be ascertained with 
mathematical exactness, but it was un- 
questionably great. He and his com- 
peers made a constitution which was 
approved by the people and under which 
they have lived, from 185 1, with but little 
change, to the present day. 

From the termination of Mr. Dunn's 
service in the constitutional convention 
of 1850 until the summer of 1858 he de- 
voted himself to the practice of his profes- 
sion ; yet, maintaining always an interest 
in public affairs, he often addressed the 
people upon public questions. He was 



A MEMO//?. 41 

indignant at the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise ; warmly antagonized the 
Dred Scott decision : and often gave ex- 
pression to his feelings in public addresses 
to his fellow-citizens. So active was he 
in criticising Congress and the Supreme 
Court upon these subjects that he placed 
himself at the head of those who made 
up the opposition in his district to the 
administration of Mr. Buchanan. As a 
natural consequence, in the summer of 
1858 he was nominated by his party to 
represent the district in Congress. Two 
years before that time, in the same dis- 
trict, the Hon. James Hughes, Democrat, 
had won the election over John A. Hen- 
dricks, Republican, by a large majority. 
Judge Hughes was an adherent of the 
policy of Mr. Buchanan upon the slavery 
question, but there were many Democrats 
in the district who were opposed to this 
policy and supported the views of Mr. 
Douglas, in favor of what was known as 
" popular sovereignty." These persons, in 
convention at Seymour, nominated George 
W. Carr for Congress on the same day 



42 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

that Judge Hughes was nominated for re- 
election by the administration wing of 
the party. This condition of affairs natu- 
rally resulted in the election of Mr. Dunn, 
who received 9,363 votes, Judge Hughes' 
vote being 8,385, and Mr. Carr's, 1432. 

It was during this canvass for Congress 
in 1858 that an amusing incident occurred 
which Mr. Dunn often told with zest. 
After one of his debates with Judge 
Hughes, he overheard two countrymen 
discussing the speeches and the speakers. 
" Hughes is the best logicianist, but Dunn 
is the best Scriptorian," said one of the 
sovereigns ; to which the other, although 
of different politics, did not express dis- 
sent. The countryman was right as to 
Mr. Dunn's knowledge of the Holy Scrip- 
tures. Well-worn copies of the Bible, 
Shakespeare, and Milton's Paradise Lost 
were ever kept on a table in his library, 
and their appearance testified that they 
were not there for ornament, but for use. 

When Congress met in December, 
1859, ^ struggle began for the election 
of Speaker of the House, which will 



A MEMOIR. 43 

ever be memorable in the history of the 
country. The members were divided into 
four parties — Democratic, Republican, 
anti-Lecompton Democrats, and Ameri- 
can ; and, as twenty-three of the Ameri- 
cans were from the Southern States, they 
were humorously called " South Ameri- 
cans." None of these parties contained a 
majority of the members. Mr. John Sher- 
man was the candidate of the Republi- 
cans, and Mr. Dunn gave him a warm 
and earnest support. The contest con- 
tinued until the first of the following 
February, when, on the forty-fourth ballot, 
Mr. Pennington, of New Jersey, was 
elected, Mr. Dunn voting for him. Mr. 
Pennington was a Republican, serving his 
first term. This long contest for Speaker 
was accompanied by acrimonious debates, 
which may with truth be said to have been 
a harbinger of our Civil war. Mr. Dunn 
was serving his first term in Congress, and 
usually members do not step to the front 
during their first session. But the times 
demanded brave men and plain speech, 
and as Mr. Dunn was a brave man and 



44 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

spoke as he thought, he soon became one 
of the most conspicuous members of the 
RepubHcan side of the House. For years 
he had opposed the extension of slavery 
by vote and speech, and now he was 
brouo^ht face to face with arrogfant men 
from the South, who claimed that the 
Constitution protected slavery everywhere 
in the country, and who demanded that 
the accursed institution should be planted 
in the Territories and fastened upon an 
unwilling people. The votes of the twenty- 
three " South Americans " added to the 
Democratic vote were a few less than a 
majority, and an effort was made to ob- 
tain from the anti-Lecompton Democrats 
votes enough to elect a Speaker who 
would be satisfactory to the allied forces. 
While the Democrats and " South Ameri- 
cans " were substantially in accord upon 
the slavery question, they were unable to 
agree upon a candidate, and the calling of 
the anti-Lecompton men into their coun- 
cils made the selection still more difficult. 
On the 28th of December Mr. Rust, of 
Arkansas, delivered a speech, in which he 



A MEMOIR. 45 

denounced both Mr. Sherman, the can- 
didate of the RepubHcans, and his sup- 
porters. Near the close of his speech 
he declared the Republican party to be 
" treasonable, incendiary, and revolution- 
ary." This denunciation of a party he 
loved was too much for the Scotch-Irish 
blood of Mr. Dunn, and he at once called 
Mr. Rust to order, saying : " The gentle- 
man violates all propriety in applying the 
term ' treasonable ' to the party of which 
I am a member. We have listened to this 
kind of talk long enough." 

Mr. Rust replied : " I have said nothing 
that I do not believe to be true, and I 
will not retract it " ; and then continued 
until he finished his speech. 

Mr. Rust was a typical Southern fire- 
eater, a believer in " the code," a man 
who had practised its teachings. To most 
of the members it seemed that Mr. Dunn 
had shown little prudence in calling the 
Arkansas member to order, for it was al- 
most certain that the controversy would 
not end in the House. But a new char- 
acter had appeared in Congress from the 



46 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

free States — one who had the courage to 
challenge the words of the Southern mem- 
bers, and to fight them with their own 
weapons. He measured the cost, and 
bravely met the issue. He saw that the 
time had arrived for a display, if neces- 
sary, of physical courage, if Northern men 
were to sit in the House as peers of those 
from the South. When Mr. Rust, there- 
fore, sent to Mr. Dunn a note by a friend, 
calling upon him to retract what he had 
said in the House, or else give him the 
*' satisfaction one gentleman owes an- 
other," Mr. Dunn referred the note to 
his friend Cassius M. Clay, and at once 
went to Silver Springs, the country home 
of the late Francis P. Blair, about seven 
miles from Washington, and not unknown 
as a duelling ground. 

As soon as it became known that Mr. 
Dunn's honor had been committed to 
Mr. Clay's keeping, Mr. Rust and his 
friends were satisfied that it would not be 
compromised in an effort to avoid danger. 
It was also learned that Mr. Dunn was 
practising with the rifle at Silver Springs, 



A MEMOIR. 47 

and that he had proved himself an excel- 
lent marksman. It was therefore not diffi- 
cult for Mr. Clay to satisfy the friend of 
Mr. Rust that for Mr. Dunn to repeat in 
the House what he had said in debate 
and Mr. Rust had refused to receive in 
satisfaction, that " he had no personal im- 
putations to make as to the truth or honor 
of the gentleman from Arkansas," should 
be a sufficient salve to heal the wounded 
honor of the challenger. The settlement 
was made upon this basis, and a friend of 
Mr. Dunn was commissioned by Mr. Clay 
to drive to Silver Springs and inform the 
latter of the terms of the accommodation. 
Mr. Dunn received the news, as this friend 
relates, with no marked expression of 
pleasure, for he had felt no alarm. How- 
ever willing he may have been to afford 
Mr. Rust the satisfaction he had de- 
manded, he was opposed to personal com- 
bat, and consented to engage in it only 
because he believed his country required 
it of him. He often said afterward that 
had a duel been fought and Mr. Rust 
fallen, he should have had the same feelings 



48 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

as if he had killed him on the field of 
battle. 

In speaking of Mr. Dunn's stay at Sil- 
ver Springs while the trouble with him and 
Mr. Rust was being considered by their 
friends, Mr. Blair once said : 

" The day he came to my house he practised 
with the rifle, which weapon he had chosen for 
the duel. At night he went to bed at the usual 
hour and rested well until morning. After 
breakfast the next day I asked, ' What is your 
religion, Mr. Dunn?' He answered: 'Old- 
school Presbyterian, sir; I believe in the de- 
crees of God.' " 

It was his firm belief in this religion that 
enabled him to remain so placid amid his 
dangerous surroundings. In speaking of 
the nerve and courage displayed by Mr. 
Dunn in this case, Mr. Blair said that they 
were remarkable, that he had never seen 
them equalled, and that on the night be- 
fore the duel was to take place Mr. Dunn 
retired to his bed at the usual time, and 
slept as placidly as a child. 

Mr. Dunn's course in the 36th Congress 
met the entire approbation of his party 



A MEMOIR. 49 

friends in his district, and, in the summer 
of i860, he was nominated for re-election. 
His opponent was the Rev. WilHam M. 
Daily, D.D., a Methodist clergyman. In 
the convention that nominated Dr. Daily, 
a delegate arose when the nomination was 
announced, and proposed three cheers for 
McKee Dunn, pledging him 1,500 major- 
ity in Jefferson County. The result made 
good the delegate's pledge, for Mr. Dunn's 
majority in Jefferson over Dr. Daily was 
1,566. The usual Republican majority 
was about 500 ; so he received more than 
500 Democratic votes. 

On the 16th of April, 1861, President 
Lincoln issued a proclamation calling the 
37th Congress to meet in extraordinary 
session, on the ensuing 4th of July, "to 
consider and determine such measures as 
the public safety and interest may seem to 
demand." It was indeed an "extraordi- 
nary" meeting of Congress, for ways and 
means were to be provided for carrying on 
what proved to be a gigantic war. The 
members were loaded with a responsibility 
greater than ever before rested upon Con- 



50 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

gressional shoulders. Failures to dis- 
charge these duties with wisdom and alac- 
rity meant disaster to the army and 
destruction to the Union. To have be- 
come prominent in the councils of the 
government at such a time was no small 
honor, but it was one which Mr. Dunn 
attained. While Thaddeus Stevens was 
unquestionably the leader of the House, 
such men as Francis P. Blair, Junior, and 
William McKee Dunn were his able lieu- 
tenants. The latter was made chairman 
of the Committee on Patents and was as- 
signed to the Committee on Militia, but, 
as neither of these committees had any 
work referred to them during the special 
session, Mr. Dunn's labors in the commit- 
tee-room during that session were as noth- 
ing. By a resolution introduced by Mr. 
Holman, the business of the session was 
" confined to a consideration of matters 
concerning the military and naval opera- 
tions of the government, and the finan- 
cial affairs therewith connected " ; so, gen- 
eral legislation was not considered. 

During this session Mr. Dunn was one 



A MEMO//!. 51 

of the most conservative members on the 
RepubHcan side of the House. He 
favored a war for the restoration of the 
Union, and for that only. He had 
all his life been an opponent of slavery 
extension, and now, if slavery went 
down with the rebellion, so much the 
better for the country, but he was op- 
posed to making war on it per se. Hold- 
ing these views he did not always act with 
his party friends, but in a few instances 
voted in opposition to his Republican col- 
leagues from his own State. He opposed 
a resolution introduced by Mr. Lovejoy 
to repeal the fugitive-slave law, and he 
voted against the confiscation law which 
passed at this session. He believed there 
was a dormant Union sentiment in the 
South, kept down by the Southern leaders, 
and he opposed laying a heavy hand on 
men who, he believed, were not in sym- 
pathy with the rebellion, but desired its 
suppression. He opposed laying a direct 
tax upon the people, and advocated the 
" issuing of Treasury notes at such rate 
of interest as will cause them to be taken 



52 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

and held by the people as a popular loan." 
His speech on the bill reported by the 
Ways and Means Committee to raise 
money to prosecute the war, wherein he 
advocated the issuance of Treasury notes 
as stated above, was the first suggestion 
of such a policy in Congress, and it is 
therefore particularly worthy of note. The 
House bill went to the Senate, and after- 
ward to a conference committee of the two 
houses, which reported a substitute, and 
although the substitute provided for the 
laying of a direct tax upon the States, Mr. 
Dunn voted for it, and it became a law. 

When Congress convened in December, 
1 86 1, there was a vacancy in the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs, and Mr. Dunn 
was chosen to fill it. Francis P. Blair was 
chairman of this committee, but from the 
number of reports made from the commit, 
tee by Mr. Dunn, it is apparent that he 
shared with the distinguished Missourian 
the labors and responsibilities of this im- 
portant place. He took charge usually of 
the military bills after they had been re- 
ported to the House, and the intelligence 



A MEMOIR. 53 

with which he discussed them showed his 
knowledge of, and familiarity with, mili- 
tary affairs. He showed great industry in 
his investigations of matters pertaining to 
his committee duties, and the conclusions 
and recommendations of the Military 
Committee were nearly always approved 
by the House. Arduous as were his 
duties on the Military Committee, he con- 
tinued to serve as chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Patents, shirking no labor that 
was put upon him. 

During the extraordinary session of 
this Congress the House adopted what 
were known as the Crittenden resolutions, 
declaring the objects for which the war 
should be prosecuted. At the commence- 
ment of the second session of the same 
Congress, Mr. Holman introduced a sim- 
ilar resolution, which was laid upon the 
table, in opposition to the vote of Mr. 
Dunn. On the 2d day of December, 
1 86 1, Mr. Elliott introduced a resolution 
on the conduct of the war. It declared, 
among other things, that the President of 
the United States, as Commander-in-Chief 



54 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

of the Army, had the right to emancipate 
all persons held as slaves in any military 
district in a state of insurrection. Mr. 
Dunn moved to lay the resolution on the 
table, but his motion failed. Subse- 
quently he voted to lay on the table Mr. 
Lovejoy's resolution condemning General 
Halleck's order prohibiting negroes from 
coming within the lines of his army. Mr. 
Dunn favored the abolition of slavery in 
the District of Columbia, but declared 
in a speech upon the subject that he 
preferred a gradual, rather than an 
immediate emancipation. He favored, 
also, compensating owners for the slaves 
emancipated. His views were nearly 
identical with those enunciated by Mr. 
Lincoln in his message to Congress ap- 
proving the bill, wherein he said : " I am 
gratified that the two principles of com- 
pensation and colonization are both recog- 
nized and practically applied in the act." 

On the 4th of December, 1861, Mr. 
Dunn introduced a resolution looking 
to the colonization of "free persons of 
African descent." Up to this time, 



A MEMOIR. 55 

as afterward, the policies of Mr. Lin- 
coln and Mr. Dunn were alike, Mr. 
Dunn beingf an able advocate of the 
measures recommended by the Presi- 
dent. But the madness of the South- 
ern people in continuing the rebellion 
caused the Executive to resort to extreme 
measures — measures to which he had 
hitherto been adverse. And so with Mr. 
Dunn. His heart and soul were in the 
war for the Union, and when he decided 
that it could be more successfully prose- 
cuted by the adoption of measures which 
he had hitherto opposed, he did not hesi- 
tate as to his duty. As the war pro- 
gressed there was a change of opinion on 
the part of many besides Mr. Dunn who 
had been conservative at its beginning. 
A state of war, and more particularly of 
civil war, is not conducive to conservatism. 
Durinof the summer and fall of 1862 it 
became apparent that if the government 
would succeed in putting down the rebel- 
lion it must use all the means at its com- 
mand. When Congress met in December, 
Mr. Dunn threw off his conservatism, and. 



56 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

during the remainder of his Congressional 
life, advocated what were termed extreme 
measures to destroy the Southern armies 
and bring the people of the rebellious 
States into subjection to the laws of the 
nation. He favored a rigid execution of 
the confiscation laws, and introduced into 
the House a resolution askinof the author- 
ities if the law had been enforced in the 
District of Columbia. He also advocated 
the bill to enlist negroes into the Union 
army. In advocating this measure he said : 

" I cannot see any reason why any man, of 
any color, who is able to raise his arm in 
defence of our nationality should not be per- 
mitted to do so. I do not see any reason why 
persons who are considered property by men 
in rebellion against the government should not 
be brought, in some way, into active co-opera- 
tion with the government in its efforts to sus- 
tain its authority, if they are willing at this 
time to take their places on the side of the 
government." 

The last speech made by Mr. Dunn 
in Congress was delivered February 24th, 
1863, only a few days before the close of 



A MEMOIR. 57 

his term. It was on the conscription bill — 
a most important measure. He favored 
the bill, and declared himself willing to 
give the President the most extraordinary 
power to impress men into the army, in 
order that the rebellion might be put 
down and the Union saved. He would 
"use all the means God had given the 
country to put down the wicked rebellion 
and restore the authority of the govern- 
ment from the Lakes to the Gulf." 

This speech, coming as it did from one 
who had been noted for his conservatism, 
had great influence both upon the House 
and the country. 

In 1862 Mr. Dunn was nominated for 
re-election to Congress, but was beaten 
at the polls by Henry W. Harrington. 
This defeat may be attributed to several 
causes : The Union army had suffered dis- 
aster during the year, and many of Mr. 
Dunn's most influential and active friends 
were in the army. He had indorsed the 
President's emancipation proclamation 
and favored the conscription act, both of 
which were in southern Indiana at that 



58 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

time unpopular. It was, indeed, a dis- 
astrous year to the Union cause and to 
the supporters of Mr. Lincoln's adminis- 
tration, and Mr. Dunn shared merely the 
fate of others who acted with him in 
Congress. 

But defeat did not dampen his ardor 
nor weaken his arm in the cause of the 
Union ; and in another place he rendered 
service as valuable to the government as 
he had rendered in the hall of the national 
House of Representatives. 

Mr. Dunn's Congressional life ended 
March 4th, 1863. He did not long 
remain out of public service, for on the 
last day of that month he was appointed 
Judge- Advocate of Volunteers for the 
Department of Missouri, with the rank and 
pay of major. He accepted the office, as 
it was in the line of his profession, and 
because he had confidence in his ability 
to discharge its duties satisfactorily to 
the country. 

In 1 86 1, Mr. Dunn was offered by Gov- 
ernor Morton the colonelcy of an Indiana 
regiment of volunteers, but he declined 



A MEMOIR. 59 

the appointment because he modestly 
believed that he did not possess the mili- 
tary knowledge which he esteemed neces- 
sary for an effective officer in the field, 
and for the further reason that, the people 
having elected him to Congress, he re- 
garded it his duty to serve them until his 
term expired. For the same reasons he 
would not allow his friends to ask Presi- 
dent Lincoln to appoint him a brigadier- 
general, although he had assurances that, 
if asked for, the appointment would be 
made. 

As soon as Mr. Dunn received his 
appointment as Judge- Advocate for the 
Department of Missouri he reported for 
duty at St. Louis. His services were 
required in many cases, for at that time 
Missouri was in a most distracted condi- 
tion. The people were divided upon 
the great question of the day, and it was 
necessary to the maintenance of Federal 
rule that vigorous and decisive measures 
should be applied and condign punish- 
ment inflicted upon those who were de- 
nominated guerillas. It was Major Dunn's 



6o WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

duty to prosecute many of these persons 
to conviction, a duty from which he did 
not shrink, but one which was exceedingly 
unpleasant to a man of his kindly nature. 
He once told the writer of this biography 
that the most displeasing part of his offi- 
cial life was the time he spent in prose- 
cuting Missouri guerillas. 

Major Dunn's talents and abilities as a 
public speaker were well known to the 
people of St. Louis when he reported 
there for duty in the spring of 1863, and 
he was soon called upon to display them. 
On the 2d of May the loyal women of 
that city, to the number of two thousand, 
met to organize a Ladies' National 
League. Major Dunn made the principal 
speech of the meeting — a speech that was 
received with acclamations of delight. 

In January, 1864, while Major Dunn 
was on duty at St. Louis, General Grant 
visited that city and was given a grand 
dinner by the people. Besides the great 
chieftain, there were present at the dinner 
Generals Rosecrans, Schofield, Osterhous, 
and numerous other officers of lesser rank 



A MEMOIR. 6 1 

and distinction. Judge Treat presided at 
the table, and Major Dunn was compli- 
mented by being called upon to respond 
to the first toast, " The President of the 
United States." 

In the spring of 1864, Major Dunn was 
nominated for Congress by his political 
friends in his old Congressional district, 
but, not wishing to re-enter that body, the 
nomination was declined. 

Major Dunn discharged his duties as 
Judge- Advocate for the Department of 
Missouri with such acceptability to the 
country that his friends determined that 
he should be furnished a broader field for 
the exercise of his unquestioned ability. 
With this object in view, a bill was intro- 
duced into Congress for the creation 
of the of^ce of Judge-Advocate-General 
of the Army, the incumbent to rank as a 
brigadier-general. The purpose of the 
originators of the measure, as is shown 
by letters of Mr. Schuyler Colfax and 
others, was to secure for Major Dunn the 
appointment. Mr. Colfax was then 
Speaker of the House, and, possessing 



62 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

much influence with the administration, 
he hoped without difficulty to secure 
the object desired. He vigorously pressed 
the application, but President Lincoln's 
deep sense of the services rendered on a 
critical occasion by the Hon. Joseph Holt, 
impelled him to confer upon Mr. Holt the 
appointment, reserving for Mr. Dunn the 
appointment of Assistant Judge-Advo- 
cate-General, with the rank and pay of 
colonel, as was provided by the terms of 
the law. Judge Holt and Major Dunn 
received the first appointments to these 
new positions, and thus became associated 
in organizing the Department of Military 
Justice. 

In March, 1865, Colonel Dunn was 
brevetted a brigadier-general " for faith- 
ful, meritorious, and distinguished ser- 
vice. 

While General Dunn was Assistant 
Judge- Advocate-General, he was assigned 
to duty in several parts of the South ; and 
at Atlanta, Georgia, was engaged in one 
of the most important cases growing out 
of the war. In an interview of the author 



A MEMOIR. 63 

with Senator Joseph E. Brown, of Georgia, 
Senator Brown remarked in relation to 
this trial and General Dunn's connection 
with it : 

" In 1868 General Dunn was at Atlanta as 
Assistant Judge-Advocate-General, General 
Pope, who had been in command of the De- 
partment, had been superseded by General 
Meade previous to the time of which I speak. 
One Ashburn, a Southerner by birth (a white 
man), had been killed at Columbus, Georgia, 
by a mob. Ashburn's offence was his living with 
a negro woman and associating and afifiliating 
with negroes. He was a bad and dangerous 
man. He had been a member of the constitu- 
tional convention of Georgia in 1868, and had 
been active in organizing the negro vote. 
General Meade determined that such outrages 
as the killing of men by mobs should be 
stopped, and ordered the arrest of some fifteen 
men suspected of having taken part in Ash- 
burn's murder. Some of the men arrested 
were of good character ; others were dis- 
reputable. Rufus Bullock had been elected 
Governor of Georgia, but had not been inaugu- 
rated ; so it was a question whether or not the 
State had a civil government. The arrests of 
these men caused intense excitement. Some 



64 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

six or seven of the leading lawyers of the 
State — including Alexander H. Stephens — vol- 
unteered to defend the prisoners. General 
Dunn, as Judge-Advocate, was charged with 
their prosecution. General Meade sent for me, 
and in General Dunn's presence asked me to as- 
sist in the prosecution. I told him I had doubts 
of the legality of the arrests, and would not go 
into the case without his promise that the pris- 
oners, if convicted, should not be executed — 
that no blood should be shed. This promise 
he gave, and I took the employment. General 
Dunn also had doubts of the legality of the trial, 
the question in doubt being whether civil gov- 
ernment existed in Georgia ; but he said it was 
his duty to obey orders, and that he should do so. 

" He entered into the trial with zeal, and led 
the prosecution with great tact and ability. 
He was fair and courteous in the discharge of 
his duties, but he was persistent and deter- 
mined in their execution. After we had been 
in the trial two weeks or more. Governor Bul- 
lock was inaugurated ; and General Meade, on 
General Dunn's advice, turned the prisoners 
over to the civil authorities. They were never 
tried, as in the then state of public opinion in 
Georgia their conviction by the civil authori- 
ties was impossible. 

" None of the other Federal officers at Atlanta 
were so popular as General Dunn. He always 



A MEMOIR. 65 

treated the people with courtesy and affability ; 
he commanded their respect by his ability and 
his fairness; his departure was regretted by 
all classes. He was of great service to both 
Generals Pope and Meade. While he was 
firm in the performance of his duties, he was 
always just and fair. Afterward I saw much 
of him, and greatly liked him. He was my 
friend, and I his." 

This statement of General Dunn's popu- 
larity at Atlanta is substantiated by no- 
tices in the Atlanta press at the time of 
his departure, and by letters received by 
him afterward from friends he made while 
there. 

Considering the unsettled condition of 
the country, and the fact that he held a 
commission from a government against 
which they had rebelled, the respect and 
affection shown him by the people of 
Georgia were indeed remarkable. 

General Dunn's career in Georgia was 
such as to draw to him, not only Union 
men, but also leadlno- Confederates. 
Major Smyth, who was an assistant In 
General Dunn's office while he was In 
Atlanta, in a recent letter, says : 



66 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

" When it was known that General Meade 
would remove Governor Jenkins, the constitu- 
tional convention, then in session in Atlanta, 
passed a resolution favoring the appointment 
of R. B. Bullock (afterward elected Governor) 
to his place. The minority of the convention, 
who opposed this appointment, applied to 
General Meade to have an officer of the army- 
selected, instead of a civilian from either side 
of the two wings into which the convention 
had become divided. The gentlemen who 
waited upon the General to accomplish this end 
were Dr. H. V. M. Miller, shortly after elected 
United States Senator ; A. T. Akerman, sub- 
sequently Attorney-General of the United 
States ; and N, L. Angier, who was elected 
State Treasurer. Mr. Akerman and Mr. 
Angier are both dead. Dr. Miller says that he 
does not recollect that they suggested the 
name of any particular officer, but knows that 
General Dunn was the one whom they were all 
in favor of, not only from his wide experience 
in civil affairs, but also for the kindly sympathy 
he had shown for the people of the South 
during the reconstruction period. 1 have no 
doubt that these wishes, while not formally 
stated, were conveyed to General Meade by 
the other members of the committee, and that 
they were expressed to General Dunn." 



A MEMOIR. 6'J 

Another person, who was in a position 
to know, says that General Howell Cobb 
and Alexander H. Stephens urged Gen- 
eral Meade to have General Dunn ap- 
pointed Military Governor ; and received 
for answer that he could not be spared 
from the office he held of Assistant Judge- 
Advocate-General of the Army. 

While General Dunn was at Atlanta, 
he formed friendships which lasted while 
he lived. Judge Erskine, who was on the 
Federal bench in Georgia during recon- 
struction times, thus speaks of General 
Dunn : " For General William McKee 
Dunn, U. S. A., I have the highest respect 
and esteem. He was an honorable, wise, 
prudent, brave, determined, firm, and noble 
man." 

Major Smyth, from whom we have 
already quoted, in speaking of General 
Dunn, says : 

" The unaffected interest he always mani- 
fested in young men made him a welcome com- 
panion. His extensive attainments, ripe expe- 
rience, and his broad and just views upon all 
subjects were an inspiration and daily instruc- 



68 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

tion to all who were so fortunate as to be asso- 
ciated with him." 

Nowhere had General Dunn warmer or 
truer friends than at Atlanta. 

In an interview which* the author had 
with Judge Joseph Holt, that gentleman 
said : 

" I was always glad to see General Dunn. 
He brought sunshine into my office whenever 
he entered it. I always felt stronger from his 
visits. His intense loyalty and great concern 
for the government strengthened and upheld 
me in the trying ordeal through which I had to 
pass. 

When asked by the author what he con- 
sidered General Dunn's leading charac- 
teristic, he replied : " Loyalty to his coun- 
try." 

On being asked if he was not as loyal 
in all the relations in life — to his God, his 
family, and to his neighbor — as he was to 
his country, Judge Holt replied : 

*' He may have been, but it was in relation 
to his duties to the government that I knew 
most of him. He was my prop and support at 
a time when I greatly needed a helping hand." 



A MEMOIR. 69 

December ist, 1875, Judge-Advocate- 
General Holt, at his own request, was re- 
tired from office, and President Grant at 
once appointed General Dunn to succeed 
him. In a letter which has been published, 
General Dunn says that the President gave 
him the office without solicitation from 
any one. Indeed, he could hardly have 
acted otherwise, for General Dunn had so 
ably discharged the duties of assistant as 
to be entitled to the appointment. 

While Judge-Advocate-General, Gen- 
eral Dunn gave an opinion adverse to the 
power of the army to try civilian employes 
by military law. He said they could not 
be tried by court-martial ; thus recogniz- 
ing the superiority of the civil over the 
military authority in time of peace. 

When General Dunn retired from the 
office of Judge-Advocate-General, the New 
York Tribune spoke thus of him : 

" Twenty years ago McKee Dunn was one of 
the ablest and most prominent men in Congress. 
He gave his own son to the war and his own 
patriotic work in Congress until his fine legal 
abilities and his long service on the Military 



70 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

Committee combined to make him the most 
suitable assistant to Judge Holt in the Judge- 
Advocate-General's office. When Judge Holt 
retired, no man in the army or out of it doubted 
that General Dunn was his natural and neces- 
sary successor. Now that he in his turn goes 
upon the retired list there will still be none who 
do not regret the necessity and wish the retiring 
officer the most peaceful and honored old age." 

At his retirement on the 2 2d of January, 
1 88 1, from the office of Judge- Advocate- 
General, General Dunn was in the full 
vigor of his faculties. He had from boy- 
hood led an active and industrious life, 
and he could not in his riper years be 
happy without employment. And now, 
beinor free from the cares and labors of 
official life, he devoted himself to the con- 
genial work of helping others. He took 
much interest in the cause of education, 
and was an active worker in many chari- 
table enterprises. He might have passed 
the remainder of his life solely in the en- 
joyment of ease and elegance, for he had 
abundant means ; but he preferred work. 
He did not live merely for himself and fam- 



A MEMOIR. 71 

ily, and hence he was an active worker wher- 
ever there was something to do for his fel- 
low-man. He was a thoroughly unselfish 
man, and it is not strange therefore that his 
latter years were full of activity for others. 
He had confidence in the future prosper- 
ity of the beautiful city in which he lived, 
and dealt somewhat extensively in Wash- 
ington city property. The income which 
he derived therefrom, as well as that re- 
ceived from the government, as a retired 
army officer, was largely applied to hu- 
mane and charitable purposes. He made 
no ostentatious display of his benevolence ; 
and information of his generous deeds 
came from other lips than his. He prac- 
tised no discrimination in his charitable 
gifts on account of religion. A " Little 
Sister of the Poor" once said : 

" Mr. Corcoran and General Dunn make the 
largest contributions to our society that we 
receive. They are Protestants, but they are 
CathoHc in heart ; they are generous to all." 

General Dunn's benevolent character 
was well known in Washington, and de- 



72 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

mand was made upon him for activity in 
many charitable works. He was a mem- 
ber of the board of trustees of the Wash- 
ington Monument Society, a director of 
the Columbia Institution for the Deaf 
and Dumb, and a trustee of the Columbia 
University. He was also energetic in 
religious and church affairs, there probably 
being no other man in Washington more 
interested in doing good to others. His 
last years were crowned with good deeds, 
and his active benevolence ended only 
with his life. 

Not indifferent to the pleasures which 
affluence gave to him, this was not neces- 
sary to his happiness. He liked honest 
and good people in whatever station he 
found them. He was a lover of nature, 
and when he put aside the cares of ofificial 
life his natural tastes drew him to the 
country. H is summer home — Maplewood 
— was in Fairfax County, Virginia, and 
there he spent the summer months of his 
later years. He loved the green fields 
and the running brooks about him, and 
took delight in making the acquaintance 



A MEMOIR. 73 

of his neighbors, soon identifying his in- 
terests with theirs. Their affection for 
him was unusual, and when he died none 
mourned him more sincerely. Some of 
the most touching and beautiful letters of 
condolence received by his family after his 
death were from his neighbors of Fairfax. 

General Dunn visited Europe twice ; 
and while there, in 1872, he wrote a letter 
to his old friend, David C. Branham, 
which is a gem in its way. He had heard 
of the nomination of Horace Greeley as the 
Democratic candidate for the Presidency. 
This nomination struck him, as it did a 
great many others, with amazement, and 
made him more forcibly realize than ever 
the old adage that " politics makes strange 
bed-fellows." He considered the nomina- 
tion in a humorous aspect, and indulged 
his fancy in writing the very amusing 
letter. 

In his correspondence he had the happy 
faculty of expressing himself in an easy 
and conversational style, rendering his 
letters so charming that no one can tire of 
reading them. 



74 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

In October, 1885, General Dunn at- 
tended a meeting of the surviving mem- 
bers of the Indiana Constitutional Con- 
vention of 1850, at which he made a 
lengthy address. Of the 150 members 
who composed the convention, thirty-five 
only survived, and he feelingly alluded to 
the fact. He knew that the time of the 
remaining members was short, and that 
they all would soon be called to join those 
who had gone before. All his life he had 
been controlled by principle, and it was 
evident from his speech that it was not 
without pleasure that he looked back and 
reviewed his public acts. His earnest 
efforts to master the questions that came 
before him and his good judgment and 
strict integrity had contributed to make 
his public life more than usually exempt 
from faults and blunders. After the lapse 
of thirty-five years he could review and 
survey with pleasure his course in the 
convention, for time had vindicated its 
wisdom. He was gratified especially that 
an enlightened public opinion had ap- 
proved of his opposition to the thirteenth 



A MEMO/11. 75 

article of the State constitution by abolish- 
ing that article. He had opposed it in 
the convention, and it having been sepa- 
rately submitted to the people, he had 
voted against it. It ordained that no 
negro or mulatto should come into, or 
settle in, the State after its adoption, and 
also provided for severe penalties against 
all persons who employed the prohibited 
negroes or mulattoes or encouraged them 
to remain within the State. The article 
became a part of the constitution by an 
immense popular majority. In 1881, it 
had, by a like majority, been stricken out. 

Mr. Dunn's vote on the article in ques- 
tion was given at a time when there were 
few who were willing that the negro 
should have a home in the State ; and, 
representing, as he did, a county lying on 
the southern boundary of the State, and 
in sentiment deeply impregnated with the 
views of slave-holders, this fact proves, if 
there were need of proof, that his course 
in the premises was dictated by conscien- 
tious principles and sacred regard to duty. 

In the speech of General Dunn at the 



76 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

reunion, he referred to other questions 
which had been discussed in the conven- 
tion. During the debates charges were 
made against the management of the State 
Bank, which he had declared to be untrue. 
Time had proven their untruthfulness, and 
had vindicated the management of the 
bank, which had paid all its debts and 
turned over a munificent sum to the State 
for the benefit of its common schools. It 
was with great pleasure that he called the 
attention of the survivors of the convention 
of 1850 to these facts and reminded them 
of his course on the question of banks in 
the convention. 

There have lived few men who could 
derive more satisfaction from a review of 
their lives than General Dunn. He had 
been true and loyal in all the relations 
of life to his family, his fellow-men, his 
country, and his God. It is to be regret- 
ted that he has not given us more glimpses 
of the life which, commencing as a spark- 
ling stream in the wilderness of Indiana, 
gathered in volume and force until it 
reached the great ocean of eternity. 



A MEMOIR. yy 

In his latter years General Dunn's eye- 
sight was so much impaired that he was 
unable to read with any degree of ease. 
His eyes had been operated upon by a dis- 
tinguished oculist, but his vision remained 
impaired. A daughter of his old friend, 
Judge Courtland Gushing, acted as his 
private secretary, and aided him in his 
work. She read to him, wrote at his dic- 
tation, and was of great assistance to him 
in many ways. Diabetes had been afflict- 
ing him for years and was undermining his 
constitution and energies. He would ask 
Miss Gushing to get pen and paper to 
write, but would soon tire of the work, 
saying he was fatigued and the writing 
must be put off to a future day. Early in 
the summer of 1887 his throat having be- 
come diseased, he asked Miss Gushing to 
read from an encyclopedia a description 
of Bright's disease, and when she had 
ended, putting his hand to his throat, he 
said, " This is the beginning of the end." 

A few days before his death he visited 
Washington on business, and, as the 
weather was intensely hot, his malady in- 



78 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

creased in virulence. On his return to 
Maplewood a physician was called, who 
pronounced his condition critical. He 
suffered little pain and everything was 
done to make him comfortable which a 
loving wife and a devoted family could do. 
Alas ! they could not prolong the life so 
dear to them ; and here, in his beautiful 
home, surrounded by those whom he loved 
best, on Sunday morning, July 24, 1887, 
the good man breathed his last. 

His wife and all his living children, ex- 
cept Mrs. McKee, who was in Europe, 
were with him when " the lamp went out, 
the golden bowl was broken." 

Had General Dunn been permitted to 
choose the time and manner of his death, 
he would doubtless have selected the quiet 
hours of a summer Sunday morning, an 
emblem of the blessed eternal day upon 
which his eyes were to be opened, never 
to close again. 

As soon as intelligence of his death was 
received in Washington a large number 
of his friends hastened to Maplewood to 
do honor to the distinguished dead and 



A MEMOIR. 79 

sympathize with his family. On the Tues- 
day following his death, his remains were 
borne by special train to Washington. 
The funeral services took place at five 
o'clock of the afternoon of that day in the 
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 
of which he had long been an active and 
influential member. Dr. Bartlett, the pas- 
tor of the church, being absent from the 
city, the Scripture lesson was read by Dr. 
Griffin and the funeral address delivered 
by Dr. Hamlin. Eight soldiers, detailed 
from Washington barracks, conveyed the 
body to the hearse. Justice Harlan, Judge 
Drake, Admiral Rodgers, Generals Benet, 
Meigs, and Macfeely, Dr. Toner, and Mr. 
W. M. Gait, representing the Supreme 
Court, the Army, the Navy, the Washing- 
ton Monument Society, and the Presbyte- 
rian Church, acted as pall-bearers. These 
gentlemen, with the family, and a large 
number of distinguished men and women, 
followed the remains to Oak Hill Cemetery, 
West Washington, where they were placed 
in the tomb. Here, beside the grave of 
his daughter — Mrs Mary Louise Mor- 



80 WILLIAM MCKEE DUNN. 

rison, — all that was mortal of William 
McKee Dunn, gentleman, lawyer, states- 
man, patriot, and Christian, was laid at rest. 
The intelligence of General Dunn's 
death was received with profound sorrow 
throughout the country. His manners had 
been so kind, his charities so large, his ben- 
evolence so extensive, and his good works 
so many, that his friendships had widened 
with each year he lived. It is not neces- 
sary at the close of this biography to sum 
up the leading traits in General Dunn's 
character, they having been given as the 
narrative progressed. He was exceeding- 
ly kind to young men. He took pains to 
acquaint himself with the habits and prin- 
ciples of those about him, and such as 
were worthy had in him a true and stead- 
fast friend. Men now prominent in busi- 
ness, at the bar, and in public affairs owe 
much to him. Fidelity to all the obliga- 
tions of life was a leading characteristic. 
He never faltered when honor and duty 
pointed the way. He was often tried as 
with fire, but he passed the ordeal un- 
scathed. He was ever equal to the occasion, 



A MEMOIR. 8 1 

and succeeded when others more brilliant 
than he, but with talents less symmetrical, 
would have failed. The estimation in 
which he was held by his neighbors, in 
the church and in benevolent work, is 
evidenced by many kindly things spoken 
of him at the time of his death. A farm- 
er near Maplewood said : " General Dunn 
will be missed more than anybody can 
tell ; he was a good man in every way, 
but the poor folks especially have sus- 
tained a loss that cannot be made good." 
What a benefactor General Dunn was to 
the people and to the church near his 
country home is so well told in an article 
published after his death and written by 
Rev. J. E. Nourse that we give it in full : 

" ANOTHER GOOD MAN CALLED UP HIGHER. 

" When a feeble church and a region of 
country much needing help in temporal things 
as well as spiritual suddenly loses a benefactor, 
it is to all an afflictive dispensation. Such has 
recently been the experience of the Presbyte- 
rian Church of Lewinsville and the precinct of 
the county of Fairfax in which it stands. Gen- 
eral William McKee Dunn, a member of the New 



82 WILLIAM McKEE DUNN. 

York Avenue Church, Washington, residing at 
his country seat, was called on the 24th ult. to 
his rest, from the most loving as well as generous 
participation in the welfare, not only of the 
church named, but of every true interest of the 
community around him. With a heart and a 
liberal hand ready for all such true interests, 
General Dunn sealed the sincerity of his sym- 
pathies and his gifts by the example of a lovely 
Christian character, firm and decided, but sim- 
ple, sincere, and gentle as a child. Rarely, if 
ever, has the writer looked down from the pul- 
pit on a face more lovely in Christian expression 
— a countenance which told to all what the 
inner man was by his communion with God. 

" The honored military record of the Gen- 
eral has been given by his comrades in the ser- 
vice, up to the date of his retirement. But 
the secular press has not noticed the qualities 
of character so commendable, but so seldom, 
it is to be feared, possessed in the service. To 
lay this humble fliower upon this Christian hero's 
tomb in Oak Hill is felt by the writer to be a 
sweet privilege: for, additionally to all his past 
experiences of Christian intercourse, the mem- 
ory of our last interview remains fresh from the 
deep, impression then again received of that 
loving Christian countenance. The tribute of- 
fered in a letter lately written by a friend is in 
every point true : ' General Dunn was as near- 



A MEMOIR. 83 

ly perfect as man can be ; the best type I 
have ever known. I knew he was waiting for 
the tide, but am shocked to hear he has crossed 
the river. He has carried with him the admi- 
ration and esteem of all who knew him. 

' " Entered into rest, 

Forever with the Lord." 

We shall meet thee again, Brother ; Christians 
never bid farewell.' " 



APPENDIX. 



85 



FAMILY TREE. 

James Dunn, of County Down, Ireland, married 
Martha Long. 

Samuel Dunn, son of James Dunn and Martha 
Long Dunn, born in County Down, Ireland, 
emigrated with his father to the United States 
when twelve years old ; married Eleanor Brew- 
ster in 1775, and died in Mercer County, Ken- 
tucky, August 17, 1802. 

Williamson Dunn, son of Samuel Dunn and 
Eleanor Brewster Dunn, born in Mercer County, 
Kentucky, December 25, 1781 ; married Miriam 
Wilson, September 25, 1806 ; emigrated to 
Indiana Territory in 1809. Mrs. Miriam Dunn 
died at Crawfordsville, Indiana, October 20, 1827. 
Williamson Dunn died at Hanover, Indiana, No- 
vember II, 1854. 

William McKee Dunn, son of Williamson Dunn 
and Miriam Wilson Dunn, born in Jefferson 
County, Indiana Territory, December 12, 1814 ; 
married Elizabeth Frances Lanier, March 11, 1841; 
died at Maplewood, Fairfax County, Virginia, 
July 24, 1887. 

Children of William McKee Dunn and Elizabeth 
Frances Lanier Dunn : 

87 



88 APPENDIX. 

James Lanier Dunn ; died in infancy, 

William McKee Dunn, Jr.; married May E. 
Morrill, October 22, 1868. 

Charles Norwood Dunn ; died in infancy. 

Frances Elizabeth Dunn ; married to David 
Ritchie McKee, May 11, 187 1. 

Lanier Dunn ; married Harriet Hildreth Heard, 
September 27, 1882. 

Mary Louise Dunn ; married to Charles Clif- 
ford Morrison, United States Army, April 30, 
1879 ; died February 7, 1885. 

George Marshall Dunn. 



''THE LOYAL FAMILY OF DUNNS." 

(letter from general DUNN TO ROBERT 
CRAVENS, ESQ.) 

Washington, D. C, August 31, 1878. 

Dear Robert : 

I have just read an article in the Louisville 
Courier -yoiirnal headed "The Loyal Family of 
Dunns." It seems to be from a Madison correspond- 
ent. If you know him, or can find him out, tell 
him he has not told the half about this family of 
" Treasury leeches." 

There was Captain Williamson Dunn, one of the 
pioneers of Jefferson County, better known as 
Judge Dunn. He commenced on the Treasury in 
the war of 181 2, as a captain of United States Ran- 
gers. He raised his company in Jefferson County, and 



APPENDIX. 89 

in order to get as much government money into the 
family as possible, persuaded two of his brothers 
and ttvo brothers-in-law to enlist in his company, 
and each of these privates was paid eight dollars 
per month, out of which exorbitant pay he was 
permitted to provide for himself, and furnish and 
provide for his horse. 

If the correspondent aforesaid wishes to learn 
how luxuriously those Rangers fared as they 
scouted through the wilderness of Indiana Terri- 
tory, from the Ohio to the Wabash, to protect the 
scattered settlers from the tomahawks and scalping 
knives of the merciless Indians, let him inquire of 
old Judge Wise, 'Squire Hankins, or of any other 
soldiers of Captain Dunn's company who may 
yet survive. 

When the Mexican war broke out, two of Judge 
Dunn's boys, true to the family instinct " for making 
money out of this government," volunteered to 
draw their pay as soldiers, and did so on the blood- 
stained fields of Mexico. When the war of the 
rebellion burst forth, these same men, grown much 
older then, made for the Treasury again, and were 
chosen by their fellow-soldiers,— Thomas, who is 
now a major in the regular army, to be captain of 
his company ; and David, who is the United 
States Consul referred to, to be lieutenant-colonel 
of the 9th Regiment Indiana Volunteers. Thomas 
was appointed captain in the regular army in May, 
186 r. He was in such battles as Fredericksburg, 
the second Bull Run, Antietam, and Gettysburg ; 



90 APPENDIX. 

was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, and 
was twice brevetted for his good conduct as a 
soldier. David commanded the 29th Indiana 
Volunteers at the battle of Shiloh, and distinguished 
himself by his courage and good judgment in hand- 
ling his men in one of the hottest places in the fight 
on Monday. He commanded the same regiment 
in the battle of Stone River, where he was so un- 
fortunate as to be captured and carried to Libby 
Prison. For several months he enjoyed the some- 
what celebrated luxuries of that delectable abode, 
and when he was expelled therefrom did not fail to 
draw his pay as if he had been enduring the hard- 
ships of active service all the time of his delightful 
imprisonment. 

Williamson McKee, son of my brother Samuel 
Dunn, of Franklin, a dashing cavalry man, and 
generous-hearted fellow, had his name suddenly 
stricken from the pay-roll of his country by a bullet, 
as he was on the march to the battle of Stone 
River. 

Palmer Dunn, son of my brother James Dunn, 
deceased, late of Logansport, was in the senior 
class of Oxford College when the rebels fired on 
Sumter. He promptly volunteered, and continued 
in the service until, by his own merits, he rose by 
regular promotions to a captaincy, and fell while 
cheering on his company in the red havoc of the 
battle of Chickamauga. His name never after- 
wards appeared on the pay-rolls of his company, 
but may now be seen in a cemetery in Logansport, 



APPENDIX. 91 

on a beautiful monument erected to his memory 
by his comrades in arms, who inscribed in marble 
their testimony to his worth as a man and his honor 
and bravery as a soldier. I felt then that in his 
death the Dunn family had lost the most promising 
of its young men. His brother Williamson entered 
the Naval Academy, in i860 ; was, with his class- 
mates, ordered into active service in 1863 ; served 
through the war as acting ensign, and resigned in 
1866. The father of these young men, when over 
sixty years of age, went out as lieutenant-colonel 
of a regiment on short service. 

Edward, son of my brother John Dunn, of Han- 
over, was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness. 
His arm had to be taken off at the shoulder. An 
artery under his shoulder was badly torn, and 
could not be reached to be tied up in the field, and 
for days Edward's life was kept in his body by 
soldiers in turn pressing their thumbs on the 
artery. Thus he was borne to a hospital in Wash- 
ington, where by skilful appliances the artery was 
supposed to be securely closed ; but suddenly in 
the night it burst open, the young soldier's life 
blood spurted out, and another of " The loyal fam- 
ily of Dunns " was no more. His only brother, 
Williamson, enlisted at Frankfort, Indiana, in the 
Fortieth Regiment, and was discharged at the close 
of the war with the rank of captain. 

My brother. Dr. Williamson P. Dunn, of Frank- 
fort, went out as a surgeon of a regiment in which 
his son was a private soldier. James W. Spear, 



92 APPENDIX. 

only son of Dr. Spear and my sister Mary, of 
Hanover, bore his musket and endured the priva- 
tions of a soldier, but fortunately did not have his 
pay stopped by a bullet. 

My nephew, Thomas Hynes, son of the Rev. 
Thomas W. Hynes, of Illinois, with his two brothers, 
volunteered in an Illinois regiment, and was mortally 
wounded in the advance on Vicksburg. His eldest 
brother, William D. Hynes, was captured in the 
battle at Franklin, Tennessee, carried to Anderson- 
ville Prison, where he remained until the close of 
the war. He returned home, broken down in 
health by the horrid privations and cruelties to 
which he had been subjected in that prison, 
doomed for its inhumanities to immortal infamy. 
Being, by the barbarities of his prison life, rendered 
incapable of hard labor or sedentary pursuits, the 
member of Congress from his district in Illinois 
procured for him a mail route agency ; where I 
hope the malice of my enemies may not reach 
him. All my nephews except two enlisted in the 
army as volunteers in the late war, and I do not 
have to apologize for those two not having volun- 
teered, as neither of them was ten years old at the 
commencement of the war ; and the fathers of 
each of them went into the service. 

Tell that Madison correspondent when next 
he begins an article about " The Loyal Family of 
Dunns," and undertakes to figure up how much 
money they have received from the government, 
to dip his pen in patriotic blood, and remember 



APPENDIX. 93 

the Dunns were not soldiers in peace and citizens 
in war. 

When the war began, I had no son qualified by 
age, size, or health to be a soldier; but, when the guns 
fired on Sumter reverberated in the hills around 
Madison, and General Crittenden, unfurling the 
Stars and Stripes, called for volunteers to uphold 
that flag, my then stripling of a boy, who bears and 
honors my name, came to me with face all aglow, 
and said with eager emphasis : " Father, I want to 
enlist." My answer was: "Then enlist," and off 
he shot to enroll his name as a volunteer in his 
country's service. The man grown from that boy 
is now a captain, and major by brevet, in the 
U. S. Army, and it is of him this Madison cor- 
respondent sends defamatory statements through 
the columns of a widely disseminated journal. 

By way of answer to this correspondent, I refer 
you to Grant and His Campaig?is, a book published 
in 1866, and quote from page 463, under the title of 
"The Lieutenant-General's Military Household": 

" Captain William McKee Dunn, Jr., United 
States Volunteers, is from Indiana. He entered 
the service in April, 1861, in the eighteenth year 
of his age, as a private in the Sixth Regiment In- 
diana Infantry Volunteers, served his three months, 
and re-enlisted August 9, 1862, in the Sixty-seventh 
Regiment Indiana Infantry Volunteers, and served 
as a non-commissioned officer until October 19, 1863, 
when he was commissioned a second lieutenant in 
the Eighty-third Regiment Infantry Volunteers 



94 APPENDIX. 

from the same State, and was with it in Sherman's 
first assault on Vicksburg, and in the battle of 
Arkansas Post, and until March, 1863, when he 
was appointed an aide-de-camp to General Sulli- 
van. During the siege of Vicksburg he was on 
duty at General Grant's headquarters, where he 
showed such bravery and cheerfulness in the dis- 
charge of his duties — in fact, ever seeking to be on 
missions of hardship and danger, that General 
Grant had him assigned to duty, in October, 1863, 
as acting aide-de-camp on his staff, where he con- 
tinued to serve through all the General's battles 
and campaigns to the surrender of Lee at Appo- 
mattox Court House. For his gallantry and effi- 
ciency he was made a captain and assistant ad- 
jutant-general, to date from that surrender." 

I had no acquaintance with General Grant until 
my son had been on his staff many months. After 
the war, in speaking to me once of "Will," the 
General said : " He is as brave as Julius Caesar. 
Had I ordered him to a place where it was certain 
death to go, I do not believe he would have hesi- 
tated a moment to obey the order." I replied that 
the son had not as much prudence as his father. 

I think I may be pardoned for feeling proud of 
the military record of my soldier boy, and indig- 
nant that any one, particularly a resident of his 
native place, should be so mean as to try to rob him 
of his well earned honors. 

My father had surviving him during the war 
seven sons with families, and the families of three 



APPENDIX. 95 

daughters, and not one of his male descendants, 
within the years of military duty, failed to 
take part, on the right side, in the war 
of the rebellion. His father, as a soldier of 
the colony of Virginia, was in the battle with 
the Indians at the mouth of the Big Kanawha 
River, and it was one of the bloodiest battles ever 
fought with Indians. That battle occurred before 
the Revolutionary War, and from that time to this, 
the name of " Dunn " has never been found want- 
ing when our country called to arms, and I trust, 
so long as a drop of the blood remains, whenever 
there is a roll call of our country's defenders, 
there may be one at least of " The Loyal Family of 
Dunns " to answer, ** Here." 

When I read the communication in the Courier- 
'yotirjial referred to, I wondered whether it were 
possible the author thereof had never read in Rev- 
elation of the lake, not of water, in which it is 
declared "all liars shall have their part." Take, 
for example, the following extract : 

" They tell me that Lon Sexton has nothing to do with any 
of the appointments of this district, but that McKee Dunn, 
the Judge-Advocate-General, does just as suits his family 
interests best, for you must understand that Dunn uses the 
power of old J. F. D. I.anier, the head of the famous New 
York banking house of Winslow, Lanier & Co., and the old 
man Lanier has always seen where to put his money where it 
would do the most good. He gave Grant $10,000 to buy his 
home with — that is, he was one of the subscribers. 

"The appointment of Tilton is an insult to all right and 
justice ; it reminds me of the manner in which Ireland is 



96 APPENDIX. 

governed — by a party of nobility who live in London and 
distribute the patronage of Ireland among their friends and 
relatives, regardless of their claims, worth, or ability. Just 
so has McKee Dunn been doing for twenty years with the 
patronage of this district, all through the power of his father- 
in-law, Lanier, the New York banker." 

And again, in speaking of me the correspondent 
says : 

" He never served as a soldier but as a volunteer aid to 
generals. Then he was appointed through the influence of 
his father-in-law, J. F. D. Lanier, the New York banker, to 
be Assistant Judge-Advocate-General. On Joe Holt's death 
he was made Judge-Advocate-General." 

I do not remember a single instance in which I 
have interfered with any of the appointments of 
Gov. Sexton's district since his election to repre- 
sent it. I could not have had anything to do with 
the appointment of Colonel McClure as mail route 
agent on the steamboat mail line between Cincin- 
nati and Louisville, because I did not know of the 
restoration of that agency until I heard of Colonel 
McClure's appointment. 

The appointment of Mr. Tilton to a small clerk- 
ship in the Pension Bureau here was not such an 
interference. Mr. Tilton's record as a pension 
agent was so exceptionally good, and his knowledge 
of the mode of transacting pension business, ob- 
tained by his long experience as a pension agent, 
was so valuable that the Pension Bureau here was 
glad to secure his services. No other man in Gov- 
ernor Sexton's district could at once or for a long 



APPENDIX. 



97 



time be so valuable to the bureau as Mr. Tilton. 
Soon after Mr. Lincoln's inauguration Mr. Tilton 
was appointed pension agent at Madison, at my 
instance, the income from the office then being 
about two hundred and fifty dollars a year. Neither 
he nor I had any idea that the office would after- 
wards become so valuable. He was enabled to hold 
the office so long as he did because he performed 
the duties thereof with honesty, promptness, and 
accuracy. It would be well for the civil service of 
our country if there were many thousands of such 
men as Mark Tilton in office. 

I have no apology to make for having used my 
best efforts to keep Mr. Tilton in the pension 
agency against all comers. He is a good man, a 
good citizen, and was an officer of unsurpassed 
excellence, and although he was not a soldier him- 
self, he sheltered under his roof those who had 
been stricken by the carnage of war. There his 
sister, Mrs. Berryhill, and her family, widow and 
children of Major Berryhill, who was killed at the 
battle of Perryville, found a home ; and there, too, 
his widowed sister, Mrs. Sheets, mother of the 
brave boy-lieutenant who was killed at Chicka- 
mauga, found sympathy and kindness in her great 
grief. Poor Frank Sheets, cruelly slain in the 
comeliness and promise of his youth ! He had 
been reared as their son by Mr. and Mrs. Tilton, 
was the playmate and companion of my children, 
and as I write these lines his warm young blood 
seems almost to spurt upon my hand. 



98 APPENDIX. 

I have been consulted here sometimes as to ap- 
pointments in it, when my old district was repre- 
sented by a Democrat. Dr. Schussler was, on my 
recommendation, appointed examining surgeon of 
the Madison district, and my recollection is that 
when he resigned I procured the appointment of 
Dr. Collins. I am quite sure that, when Dr. Col- 
lins had some difficulty with the Pension Bureau 
here, I, at his and Mr. Tilton's request, put myself 
to a good deal of trouble in trying to have the 
matter adjusted according to the Doctor's wishes. 

I did have some agency in the appointment of 
Mr. Cofifin as postmaster at Madison, but that was 
done with the concurrence of General Hunter, who 
then represented the district. I said a kind word 
for Colonel Garber, but he did not need my assist- 
ance in procuring his appointment. 

The mean insinuation that Mr. Lanier contrib- 
uted to the purchase of a house for General Grant 
from selfish motives could have emanated only 
from one who reasoned from his inner conscious- 
ness, and who was incapable of understanding that 
a good act might proceed from a good motive only. 
Mr. Lanier's contribution to the " Grant Fund " 
was one thousand instead of ten thousand dollars, 
and was made one or two years after I was ap- 
pointed Assistant Judge-Advocate-General, and, 
moreover, I was appointed to that office by Presi- 
dent Lincoln. General Holt, who still lives, was, 
December i, 1875, at his own request, retired from 
the office of Judge-Advocate-General, and there- 



APPENDIX. 99 

upon President Grant immediately appointed me 
to that office without being requested to do so by 
anybody. What a lying ass that correspondent is ! 

I am under many and great obligations to my 
father-in-law, Mr. Lanier, for his kindness to my- 
self and my family, but I am under no obligations 
to him even for assistance in procuring any office 
I ever held. My stalwart friend, William Phibbs, 
who used to stand all election day at the court- 
house window to prevent illegal votes against me 
from being put into the ballot-box, was of far more 
use to me politically than ever Mr. Lanier was. 
Indeed, it used to be to me a matter of painful 
surprise that Mr. Lanier did not manifest more 
interest in my political aspirations. 

For the office I now hold, and all I have ever 
held, and for whatever of political influence I have 
ever possessed, I am mainly indebted to the good 
opinion and confidence of the people of Jefferson 
County and of the old Third Congressional District 
of Indiana. I prize their good opinion, and would 
be distressed by the loss of their confidence. The 
influence with which they clothed me has not been 
employed selfishly in the interests of my family. 
My brother, who is a consul, was indebted for the 
appointment to his fellow-townsman and warm 
personal and political friend, the late Senator Pratt. 
The correspondent " who loveth and maketh a lie " 
states that I have a nephew a lieutenant in the 
navy, at a salary of two thousand dollars a year. I 
never had but one nephew or kinsman an officer in 
LOFC 



100 APPENDIX. 

the navy, and he was the ensign above referred to, 
who resigned twelve years ago much to my regret, 
as he was a very promising young ofificer. He re- 
ceived his appointment as a cadet midshipman from 
Schuyler Colfax, without my request or knowledge. 
As he passed through Madison, on his way to the 
academy, he was joined by " Will Webb," the boy 
to whom I had given a like appointment from my 
Congressional district, and who is now a lieutenant 
in the navy, and a good officer. Other boys have 
been sent from the old Third Congressional District 
to the Naval Academy and to the Military Academy 
by my appointment or procurement, but none of 
them were of my family or of my family connec- 
tions. The aforesaid correspondent, had he taken 
pains to procure truthful information in regard to 
myself and brothers, might, perhaps, have learned 
that they recognized my obligations to the people 
of my Congressional district, and did not ask me to 
assist them or their sons to procure official posi- 
tion to the detriment of my constituents. The 
correspondent stumbled upon the truth once, if by 
his statement that I never served as a soldier, he 
meant that I never served in the field. When the 
war commenced I was too old to do service as a 
private soldier, and I was not qualified, either by 
education or experience, for command. Therefore, 
when Governor Morton offered me the colonelcy of 
the regiment which was afterwards commanded by 
General Sullivan, 1 promptly declined to take the 
responsibility. That was in the summer of i86r. 



APPENDIX. lOI 

I am satisfied that, shortly afterwards, I could have 
had the appointment of brigadier-general from 
President Lincoln, if I had allowed friends to ask 
for it ; but I would not, for the reason above given 
for declining a colonelcy, and for the further reason, 
which, indeed, had its influence in both cases, that 
I was then a member of Congress. I should say 
that brigadier-generalships, about that time, could 
be procured by very incompetent men. When my 
service in Congress expired, I was appointed Judge- 
Advocate of the Department of Missouri, with the 
pay of a major. This office I accepted, because, as 
it was in the line of my profession, I thought that 
I was, or could soon make myself, competent to 
discharge its duties. 

I have since been promoted to be Assistant and 
then Judge-Advocate-General, as above stated. My 
office has a military title, as has that of the Surgeon- 
General or of the Paymaster-General, but my 
duties are entirely of a legal and judicial nature. 

This letter has grown almost to a book of chroni- 
cles. When I commenced writing I did so for the 
purpose of giving you some facts that might enable 
you, in the course of conversation with friends, to 
answer the false and malicious statements contained 
in the communication to the Louisville Courier- 
Journal. This has led me to speak of many things 
of a personal and family nature which I have never 
before thought much about. That correspondence 
in the Courier- Journal was not pleasant reading to 
me. I was sorry to find that I had an enemy so 



102 APPENDIX. 

bitter as to blacken his tongue with lies in the hope 
of doing me an injury. Moreover, it was not pleas- 
ant to know that a defamatory publication in regard 
to myself and those bound to me by the strong ties 
of affection and blood had been spread throughout 
the country, to be read in thousands of private fam- 
ilies, in shops and stores, at hotels, and on railroads 
and steamboats, leaving some injurious lodgment 
in the mind of every reader. But the press is 
" free," and there seems no way of resisting its 
abuse of its freedom but by the freedom of the 
club, or by other violence. I cannot, however, seek 
redress in that way. I have to submit to whatever 
injury has been done to myself and others by the, 
to me, unknown correspondent, who made the lies 
he loved and loves the lies he made. 

My good old father became a citizen of Jefferson 
County seventy years ago. There he reared a large 
family of children devoted in their affection to 
their parents and to each other. We are now scat- 
tered from the British Provinces in the east to the 
Pacific Ocean in the west, one only remaining at 
the old '' homestead." In the ordinary course of 
events this sole representative of our family in the 
county with which we have been so long and closely 
identified will have passed away and our family will 
have neither place nor name in Jefferson County any 
longer, except in the graveyards and on the tomb- 
stones. Therefore it is that, as I am concluding 
this long letter, I feel that I would like to have it 
recorded in the Madison Courier as a history of 



APPENDIX. 103 

one of the pioneer families of the county, to be read 
by my old friends at home, and to be of easy refer- 
ence hereafter, should some weak and willing in- 
strument, instigated by the father of lies, undertake 
to disparage and defame " The Loyal Family of 
Dunns." You will therefore request the publish- 
ers of the Courier to give this letter a place in the 
columns of their valuable paper. 

I have been in the habit, in my letters to you, of 
subscribing myself " Your Uncle," as I am, by 
brevet ; but for fear of doing you an injury by 
asserting such a relationship, I subscribe myself 
simply, 

Yours truly, 

Wm. McKEE DUNN. 



SPEECHES. 



CONFISCATION OF THE PROPERTY OF 
REBELS. 

REMARKS OF HON. W. McKEE DUNN, OF INDIANA. 

DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, APRIL 23, 1862. 

The House having under consideration the bill 
(H. R., No. 106) to confiscate the property and 
free the slaves of rebels, Mr. Dunn said : 

Mr. Speaker, I believe the gentleman from New 
York [Mr. Olin] moved to refer the whole subject 
of confiscation to a special committee. 

Mr. Olin — My motion is to refer the whole sub- 
ject to a special committee to be appointed by the 
chair. 

Mr. Dunn — I was much gratified to hear the 
motion of the gentleman from New York. Ques- 
tions respecting the confiscation of the property of 
rebels, and the policy to be pursued towards the 
States in rebellion, are the most difficult we have 
before Congress, and upon their proper decision 
may depend the great question, whether or not this 
government is to be restored to its former state of 
peace and prosperity. I confess, sir, that I have 
been greatly grieved at the haste which has been 
104 



APPENDIX. 105 

manifested by the House to dispose of matters of 
such grave importance, and I congratulate the 
House and the country that we have just now laid 
upon the table a bill, the enactment of which into 
a law would have disgraced the civilization of 
the age. If the vote had been taken on this bill 
before our adjournment yesterday, as its friends 
endeavored to have done, I believe it would have 
passed. A night's reflection has brought the House 
to a wise conclusion. I am in favor of the motion 
of the gentleman from New York to refer the 
whole matter of confiscation to a select committee. 
Let this subject have the deliberate consideration 
its importance demands. Our action upon it may 
involve the life of the nation. 

If I represented a Latin state, I would say in 
medio ibis tutissimus ; but as I am a representative 
of a people who speak plain English, and fight in 
plain English, I will say the true policy of our 
nation is to adopt moderate counsels and pursue 
them steadfastly. It is not good policy either for 
an individual or for a nation to insist on extreme 
rights or extreme measures. We should deliberately 
consider and wisely adopt those untried measures 
which the exigencies of the country may make it 
necessary for us to adopt. But those who bring 
forward such measures for our action seem dis- 
posed to crowd them through under the stringent 
rules of the House, without fair opportunity for 
debate or amendment. It is but a few days since 
we passed the bill for the immediate emancipation 



I06 APPENDIX. 

of the slaves in this district. I struggled, but in 
vain, to secure for that important measure the de- 
liberate action of this House. I voted for it not- 
withstanding its imperfections. The President, in 
returning the bill with his approval, administered 
to us not an unmerited rebuke for the inadequacy 
of its provisions. 

Now, sir, what is the bill which we have just laid 
on the table ? It is bill No. 107, introduced by the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Bingham]. 

" Be it enacted^ ^c, That if any person or persons, 
within any State or Territory of the United States, 
shall wilfully, after the taking effect of this act, en- 
gage in armed rebellion against the Government of 
the United States, or shall wilfully aid or abet 
such rebellion, all the property, moneys, stocks, 
credits, and effects of such person or persons are 
hereby declared lawful subjects of prize and cap- 
ture, wherever found, for the indemnity of the 
United States against the expenses of suppressing 
such rebellion ; and it is hereby made the duty of 
the President of the United States to cause all such 
property, wherever found, to be seized, to the end 
that the same may be confiscated and condemned, 
as hereafter provided, for the use of the United 
States. 

" Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all prop- 
erty so captured or seized shall be condemned in 
the district courts of the United States, and that 
the proceedings of condemnation shall be in rem, 
and shall be instituted and prosecuted in the name 



APPENDIX. 107 

of the United States, in any district court of the 
United States, or the district court for the District 
of Columbia, within any district in which the same 
may be seized or situate, or into which the same 
may be taken and proceedings first instituted, and 
which proceedings shall conform as nearly as may 
be to proceedings in prize cases, or to cases of for- 
feiture arising under the revenue laws ; and in all 
cases the property so seized and condemned, wheth- 
er real or personal, shall be sold pursuant to such 
rules as the Secretary of the Treasury may pre- 
scribe, and the proceeds deposited in the Treasury 
of the United States for the sole use of the United 
States. 

" Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the At- 
torney General or any district attorney of the 
United States of any district in which the said 
property and effects may at the time be, or into 
which the same may be taken, shall institute the 
proceedings of condemnation as hereinbefore pro- 
vided." 

I will briefly discuss the merits of this bill, al- 
though it is defeated, because it is but one of a 
dozen or more of like character that are ready to 
rise up out of its ruins, and which may be put un- 
der the previous question, and thus prevent either 
debate or amendment. It makes no discrimination 
between the leaders of this rebellion and its vic- 
tims. It gives no day for repentance. The infor- 
mation of the probable passage of the act could 
not reach those to be most affected thereby, as all 



I08 APPENDIX. 

the usual means of transmitting intelligence to the 
rebel regions are suspended. It is a Draconian 
law, and the President is ordered to execute it. It 
matters not how ignorant the soldier in arms 
against his government may be, or under what de- 
lusions and prejudices he may have become in- 
volved in this insurrection ; it matters not that the 
country has been unable to protect him if loyal ; 
it matters not that he may have volunteered to 
serve in the rebel army to avoid being impressed 
by the " shoulder tappers," acting under the authori- 
ty of a military despotism ; — in his absence, without 
his knowledge, with no opportunity to lay down his 
arms to escape the penalties of the law, all his 
property is to be " seized," and his wife and his 
children, his father and his mother, all who may be 
dependent upon his property for subsistence, are 
to be turned out into the world paupers. All his 
property is to be seized and sold. Not only, if he 
has them, his houses and his lands, his cotton and 
his tobacco, his wheat and his corn, his sugar and 
his rice, his cattle, his swine, his beasts and imple- 
ments of husbandry, but his household furniture 
and the very bed on which his wife and children 
sleep. This bill would take from the family of the 
soldier the cow that gave them milk, the meal from 
their tray, and the meat from their barrel. It 
would seize and sell the bed on which dependent, 
trembling age rests itself, and the covering that 
keeps warm the infant sleeping in its cradle. The 
widow dependent upon a rebel son, the orphan 



APPENDIX. 109 

sister dependent upon a rebel brother, the aged and 
the young, the rich and the poor, the sick, the halt, 
the lame, the lunatic, the imbecile — all ages, sexes, 
and conditions are to be involved in this common 
ruin. We would strip the rebels and their families 
of all their property, deprive them of food, and 
turn them out naked into the world, a nation of 
paupers ; and we profess to be a Christian nation, 
and ours claims to be a parental government, and 
this is our grand scheme of pacification ! Was ever 
such a proposition made before in the councils 
of a civilized nation ? In the name of our com- 
mon humanity, which it should be our effort to 
elevate and bind together by kindliest sympathies ; 
in the naine of my country, whose fair record is 
darkened by no such statute, and in the name of 
Christianity, which teaches us to forgive as we hope 
to be forgiven, I thank Him who tempers justice 
with mercy, that this House has defeated a bill so 
cruel and disgraceful in its provisions. 

Sir, I am for punishing with red-hot vengeance 
the authors, promoters, and leaders of this wicked 
and unprovoked rebellion. I would " smite them 
hip and thigh," in the name of the Lord. They 
have lifted their parricidal hands against a just 
and beneficent government. They have deceived, 
misled, intimidated, and forced the people of the 
South into rebellion. They have filled all parts of 
our once happy country with lamentation and 
mourning. The desolate homes, the widows and 
orphans, made so by these wicked conspirators. 



1 10 APPENDIX. 

and the memory of my many friends slaughtered 
in nobly defending their country, so fill my heart 
that I cannot now consider our vast public debt 
and increasing expenditures as among the calami- 
ties of the war. The men who brought these 
calamities upon our country must not escape punish- 
ment. Theirs is a crime not only against their 
country, but against humanity. Grievous is their 
crime, and grievously let it be punished. But, sir, 
I want a discrimination to be made in our legis- 
lation between the men who have brought about 
this rebellion and the masses of the people who 
have been involved in it. Seize, if you can, the 
perjured traitors who sat in the Cabinet councils of 
the late Administration while secretly plotting the 
overthrow of the government they were under oath 
to support. Seize those senators who, in the other 
end of this Capitol, took counsel together how 
they might promote rebellion, and lingered in their 
seats only that they might prevent all legislation 
needful to aid the then incoming administration to 
suppress the rebellion. Seize those who sat with us 
in this hall in the last Congress, and here boldly 
threatened treason — not only in our presence, but 
in the presence of an applauding auditory crowd- 
ing these galleries. By their speeches in this hall, 
they filled the Southern mind with falsehoods, 
educated it to treason, and fired it to rebellion. 
Seize the late officers of our army and navy, who, 
educated and sustained by the liberality of our 
government, in the hour of its need, turned their 



APPENDIX. 1 1 1 

ungrateful and treacherous hands against it. Seize 
all who have ever taken an official oath to support 
the Constitution of the United States, and who are 
now in rebellion against it. Seize all who have sat 
in their State secession conventions and legislative 
bodies. Seize the members of their pretended 
congress. Seize the great pretender himself, Jeffer- 
son Davis, and all who hold military or civil 
authority under his usurpation. Seize the rich 
who have given the aid and influence of their 
wealth to this rebellion. Seize the leaders and pro- 
moters of a disloyal public sentiment at the South, 
whether in the Church or the State, and punish 
them and all the classes I have named — so that 
this rebellion shall stand alone in history, no one 
ever daring to enter upon an imitation of so base 
and hazardous an experiment. 

But, sir, I draw a broad distinction between the 
guilt of those who have dragged the people of the 
South into this rebellion, and the people who, to a 
great extent, have been the victims of misrepresen- 
tation, fraud, and violence. And this House should 
draw that distinction broadly in its legislation for 
the punishment of rebels. I was pleased with that 
feature of the amendment proposed yesterday by 
my colleague [Mr. Porter]. He very truly re- 
marked that such a discrimination would tend to 
divide Southern counsels and distract their army. 
Let us show to the rebels with muskets on their 
shoulders that a way of reconciliation is open to 
them. Let them understand that they can have 



112 APPENDIX. 

peace if they will lay down their arms of rebellion, 
and they will soon understand that their military 
and civil leaders are carrying on the war on private 
account. When this becomes generally understood 
among the private soldiers, we may expect to see 
the Southern army melting like snow in the summer 
heat. But, sir, the classification in the amendment 
of my colleague [Mr. Porter] does not embrace all 
the classes of men of leading position and influence 
who should be held to a higher responsibility for 
their pernicious influence in bringing on and sus- 
taining this rebellion. I would further designate 
as worthy subjects of distinguished punishment 
the editors of newspapers, who daily or weekly 
have been issuing their sheets filled with falsehoods 
to prejudice the minds and mislead the judgments 
of their readers. And I would still further desig- 
nate the preachers of the Gospel who have prosti- 
tuted their high positions to deceive and mislead a 
confiding people. There are hundreds of such 
cases. One such occurs to me now, and as an 
example of the pernicious teachings of one of these 
apostles of treason, I send to the clerk's desk to be 
read an extract from a fast-day sermon, preached 
in Richmond, Virginia, in January last, by Rev. 
Thomas V. Moore, D.D., a pastor of one of the 
Presbyterian churches in that city. The Doctor 
declares : 

" Never since the terrible scenes of La Vendee, 
under the ravaging hordes of republican France, 
has the old heathen war cry, V(z victis ! (woe to 



APPENDIX. 113 

the conquered !) been more unmistakably sounded 
by an army of invaders. Let this tremendous cru- 
sade become successful, either by mismanagement 
in the army, or cowardice and greediness at home, 
and history furnishes no page so dark and bloody as 
that which would record the result. Our best and 
bravest men would be slaughtered like bullocks in 
the shambles ; our wives and daughters dishonored 
before our eyes ; our cities sacked, our fields laid 
waste, our homes pillaged and burned, our property, 
which we are perhaps selfishly hoarding, wrested 
from us by fines and confiscations, our grand old 
Commonwealth degraded from her proud historic 
place of ancient dominion, to be the vassal prov- 
ince of a huge central despotism, which, having 
wasted her with fire and sword, would compel her 
by military force to pay the enormous expense of 
her own subjugation, or, in default of this, par- 
cel out her broad lands to insulting emigrants as a 
feudal reward for the rapine and murder of this 
new Norman Conquest, while the owners of these 
lands must either remain as cowering factors for 
insolent conquerors and oppressive lords, or wan- 
der as penniless and hopeless fugitives in a land of 
strangers." 

This is a rehash of Beauregard's infamous " Beau- 
ty and Booty " proclamation. 

Here is a beloved pastor standing before a con- 
fiding people, and telling them that " history fur- 
nishes no page so dark and bloody as that which 
would record the result " if our arms were success- 



114 APPENDIX. 

ful in subduing the South ; that their '* best and 
bravest men would be slaughtered like bullocks in 
the shambles ; their wives and daughters dishon- 
ored before their eyes ; their cities sacked ; their 
fields laid waste ; their homes pillaged and burned," 
etc. 

Now, if the men in his congregation believed 
what their beloved and eloquent pastor told them, 
they were cowards and poltroons if they did not 
rush to arms. And why should they not believe 
him ? Dr. Moore is a Northern man by birth, a 
native of Pennsylvania, educated in his collegiate 
and theological course at the North, married to his 
first wife at the North, settled as a pastor of a 
church at the North, until his eminent talents 
caused him to be invited to the rich and cultivated 
city of Richmond to take pastoral charge of one of 
its largest and most influential congregations. Why 
should not those men of the South believe this 
Northern man, this preacher of the Gospel, when 
from the sacred desk he told them that the North- 
ern people were barbarians. And yet he, under 
the provisions of the bill under consideration, is 
only to suffer a common fate with, it may be, the 
young men who, believing his statements and fired 
by his eloquence, have taken up arms against their 
government, supposing they were in the noble line 
of patriotic duty. I knew Dr. Moore well when he 
was a student at a college in Indiana, and I loved 
him much, and still love him so much that I hope 
he may soon find a place in Fort Warren, where he 



APPENDIX. 1 1 5 

will be preserved from further danger for a while 
at least. 

But, sir, how nobly have our gallant soldiers vin- 
dicated themselves from the charges of Rev. Dr. 
Moore. Was there ever a war in which private 
property was better protected by an invading army, 
or non-combatants in an enemy's country subjected 
to less annoyance ? Our government has endeav- 
ored to conduct this war on the established princi- 
ples of civilized warfare, and to prevent it from 
degenerating into a system of guerrilla strife and 
robbery, which appears to be a favorite system with 
the Southern chivalry. 

I have sometimes thought, Mr. Speaker, that 
some of the measures introduced and advocated 
here indicated that their advocates did not desire 
to see us again a united people. I know that 
when this rebellion broke out, some persons in the 
country, of great influence over public opinion, 
advised that we should " let the South go " and ac- 
knowledge the independence of the Southern con- 
federacy. A just public sentiment compelled them 
to cease publicly to advocate the "let them go" 
policy, but I sometimes think the same persons are 
endeavoring to accomplish the same purpose by 
urging Congress to adopt a policy that will render 
a reunion impossible. At any rate, many of the 
bills presented here would, if enacted, make a 
reunion extremely difficult. 

But, say gentlemen, the secessionists have stripped 
Union men of their property, and why shall we not 



Il6 APPENDIX, 

deprive them of theirs ? We shall soon arrive at a 
very low state of morals if we set out to retaliate 
in kind all the practices of the secessionists. Shall 
we perjure ourselves because nearly all the rebel 
leaders have notoriously violated their solemn 
oaths ? They have treated our prisoners with bar- 
barity, scalped our wounded, mutilated our dead, 
buried them with indignity, made drinking-cups of 
the skulls of our hero martyrs, and pipes and 
trinkets of their bones. Shall we imitate their 
savage examples ? If we do like the rebels we 
will be base like them. Except your righteousness 
shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and 
the Pharisees, wherein are you better than they ? 

I would not propose the example of the usurper 
Davis or any of his associates as worthy of imita- 
tion by any honest or honorable man. When I 
seek for examples worthy of my imitation, or that 
of others, I will seek for them in the annals of the 
good, the patriotic, the great ; or 1 will turn to that 
Book of Books, which is ever " a lamp to our feet 
and a light unto our path." What a noble instance 
of forbearance to a prostrate foe is given us by 
David, when Saul lay asleep at his feet, in the cave 
in the wilderness of Engedi. Did he slay him ? 
No ; he spared him. And when Saul was told by 
David how he had spared his life, " he lifted up his 
voice and wept," and said to David : " Thou art 
more righteous than I ; for thou hast rewarded me 
good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil." That 
was a revenge worthy of the chosen king of Israel, 



APPENDIX. 1 1 7 

and such an example of that forbearance which is 
often far better than severity, as is worthy of imita- 
tion by a Christian people. This war is upsetting 
a good many old ideas, and is establishing some 
new ones. An old idea it has effectually demol- 
ished is that of Southern chivalry, and one that it 
has established is that of the superior civilization 
of the free States. 

My colleague [Mr. Colfax] has suggested that, 
under the provisions of this bill, slaves may be 
seized and sold as other property, and of course 
the price of their blood brought into the treasury 
of the nation. 

Mr. Bingham — With the gentleman's permission 
I will ask him a question. I want to know whether 
the word property is not used in the Constitution 
as it is used in this bill ? Is it not so used in the 
forfeiture statute touching the revenue laws ? Is 
it not so used in the prize laws ? Any court of the 
United States, under those laws, authorizes the 
forfeiture and sale of property. 

Mr. Dunn — I believe the Supreme Court has 
decided something of that kind ; but as I am not 
upon the Judiciary Committee I will not undertake 
to say how that is. 

Mr. Colfax — My colleague did not exactly state 
my position. I stated that by the first section we for- 
feited all their property ; that by the second section 
we declared the proceedings to be in the United 
States courts, and that under their orders the 
property might be sold. I stated that the courts 



Il8 APPENDIX. 

might, though I do not believe they would, decide 
that slaves are property ; that they decided very 
much in that way in the Dred Scott case ; and not 
being willing to entrust them with that decision, 
and fearing that they might decide so, I was not 
willing to put myself in the position of being 
arraigned for voting for a bill having such an 
effect. 

Mr. Bingham — I ask the gentleman from Indiana 
[Mr. Dunn] to answer himself the question, whether 
that which is property under the Constitution can- 
not be held everywhere in every State under the 
Federal law, in spite of every State constitution ? 

Mr. Dunn — I think the House will agree that 
the Supreme Court has decided this question, and 
decided it very much as stated. If the question 
were decided as indicated in the Dred Scott case, 
it would be decided that slaves were property, and 
men, women, and children might be sold and bought 
under processes of the court and the provisions of 
this bill. I do not believe that decision was right. 

Mr. Bingham — I supposed not. 

Mr. Dunn — I am not willing to trust the court 
in relation to this question of slavery, because very 
much of the trouble in which we are now involved 
may be attributed to the fact that we had a pro- 
slavery judiciary. The Supreme Court of the 
United States, in giving the intimations they did 
in the Dred Scott case, brought the great weight of 
their authority to bear upon public opinion, on the 
side of slavery. The weight of that authority was 



APPENDIX. 1 19 

at the time very great, though subsequently it was 
not so great. If they had not brought the force of 
that authority to bear upon public sentiment we 
might not have had the trouble we have to-day. 
They informed the people of the South that the 
North was endeavoring to invade their rights ; and 
we in Indiana had to strike for the rights of free 
labor and free soil through the shield of the Su- 
preme Court, and we struck manfully and struck to 
the death. 

Mr. Cox — I desire to say that it has been 
decided by the Supreme Court that execution goes 
out of United States courts against property which 
the laws of the State regard as property. 

Mr. Dunn — We are wandering from the subject 
before the House. 

Mr. Mallory — I desire to state to my friend that 
in the State of Kentucky, under process of United 
States courts, slaves have been sold to satisfy 
claims of the United States in that State, and that 
the money was put into the United States Treasury. 

Mr. Bingham — Will my friend be good enough 
to tell me where that decision is ? 

Mr. Mallory — I did not refer to a decision ; I 
referred to facts which have occurred in the 
history of the United States more than once. 

Mr. Dunn — I cannot consent to have this cross- 
discussion during my remarks. What I desire is 
this : I want to call this House to a halt upon this 
great measure. I want consideration ; I want 
deliberation ; I want discussion. I am opposed 



120 APPENDIX. 

to bringing in a bill of so much importance and 
pressing it straight through. Gentlemen may say 
that we have had an opportunity to examine this 
bill. That may be so ; but we have so much other 
business that we cannot always examine bills when 
we would like to. I like many of the features of 
the bill introduced into the Senate by the Senator 
from Ohio [Mr. Sherman]. I like the discrimi- 
nation he makes between the deluded people and 
those who deluded them. I want the men who 
wear stars and eagles and shoulder-straps, men who 
are called honorable in their sham confederacy, and 
every man that has sworn to support the constitution 
of their usurpation, to be put beyond the pale of 
repentance and mercy — I will not say repentance, 
but mercy. 

Mr. Lovejoy — I want to say to the gentleman 
that it is hardly in accordance with Scripture to 
put a man beyond the pale of repentance. [Laugh- 
ter.] 

Mr. Dunn — I have already so qualified my too 
hasty remark, and I will qualify it still further by 
saying for them what I would say for the worst 
criminal, that I do not want them put beyond the 
pale of mercy, but I want them to have to look to 
the next world for it. 

The bill introduced into the Senate by the dis- 
tinguished Senator from Vermont [Mr. Collamer] 
has much in it worthy of the favorable considera- 
tion of this House. If time and deliberation are 
given to this matter, some measure that will be 



APPENDIX. 121 

proper and useful can certainly be devised, some 
measure that will not strengthen, unite, and con- 
solidate the rebellion by declaring in advance to 
the masses of the people involved in it that the 
triumph of our arms will be their certain, hopeless, 
and irretrievable ruin. 

Ever since the unhappy controversy commenced 
that now distracts our country, and has arrayed its 
sections into hostile armies, I have made it my 
purpose " to follow after the things that make for 
peace." Peace could not be secured by compro- 
mise, because the rebels wanted no compromise. 
They wanted an independent government. They 
might possibly have been satisfied by the abject 
submission of the North to their will and policy. 
This, of course, could not be granted. Now we 
are at war, and there is no way left but to fight it 
out. On with the armies, then, and let might and 
the God of battles settle the right. I have no 
doubts about the result. The rebels will be van- 
quished, will be subjugated to the just authority of 
their government. It will be time enough for us 
then to lay upon their shoulders the weightiest 
share possible of the heavy burdens their iniqui- 
tous rebellion has caused. Let us avail ourselves 
of the usual rights of war, and, if thought best by 
the President, subsist our armies in the rebel States 
on the rebel property. In the meantime let us 
not, by any too violent legislation, throw diffi- 
culties in the way of securing peace. My heart's 
desire is to see our people reunited in fraternal 



122 APPENDIX. 

bonds as they were in the days of our fathers, and 
the great energies of this nation, now devoted to 
mutual destruction, restored to those peaceful pur- 
suits in which our conquests were rapidly making 
us the greatest power on the globe. 

Sir, do we fully realize our high responsibilities ? 
We are the representatives of more than thirty 
millions of people, and the legislators for a country 
capable of supporting a greater population than 
has ever before been under one government. I 
shall never forget the impression of the greatness 
of my country made on my mind, the first day I 
took my seat in this House, as I listened to the roll- 
call of the States and Territories. Commencing in 
Maine, first answered the Representatives of the 
people of New England, so distinguished for their 
education, their enterprise, their commerce, and 
their manufactures ; next answered New York, an 
empire herself, through her thirty-three Represen- 
tatives ; and then Pennsylvania, the keystone of 
the Federal arch ; and then, sweeping down the 
Atlantic coast, came the answers from that land of 
sunshine and flowers, where the cotton-bloom 
whitens their broad acres, and where grow the 
sugar-cane and rice. Then came the roll-call up 
the great valley of the Mississippi, and from that 
valley and the valleys of all its tributaries, extend- 
ing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Northern lakes, 
were heard the responses of the Representatives of 
the people of great States and Territories ; but 
still the roll-call proceeded, and bounding over the 



APPENDIX. 



123 



Rocky Mountains, called upon the States on the 
Pacific coast, and they answered through the Rep- 
resentatives of California and Oregon. Again there 
was a call, and the delegate from far-off Washington 
Territory answered the summons. Around me sat 
the Representatives of all the great material inter- 
ests of our country ; of the hardy seamen who 
spread their sails on every ocean, of the cotton and 
woollen manufacturers, of the cunning workmen in 
brass and iron, of the great railroad interests, of 
the agricultural products, of the cattle on a thou- 
sand hills, and of the mines of iron, gold, and 
silver in our mountains. On my right sat a Rep- 
resentative who, in his home at midsummer, was 
chilled by the cold winds of the North, and on my 
left, one around whose Southern home the flowers 
bloomed throughout the year. Here sat another, 
from our farthest Eastern coast, who looked upon 
the sun as he rose fresh from the Atlantic to run 
his daily course, and there another who looked 
upon that sun as, his daily journey run, he gathered 
the robes of evening around him, and sunk to rest 
in the bosom of the Pacific. What a country. 
How great in extent. How vast in resources. 
What a variety of soil, climate, and production. 
This was my country ; this is my country, and if 
any poor efforts or sacrifices of mine can secure so 
great a blessing, this, undiminished of its territory 
or power, shall be my country, and the country of 
my children, and of my children's children to re- 
motest generations. 



SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF 
REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 29, 1863. 

ON THE BILL PROVIDING FOR THE ENLISTMENT OF 
NEGROES IN THE UNITED STATES MILITARY 
SERVICE. 

Mr. Dunn addressed the House as follows : 
Mr. Speaker, I wish to say but a few words in 
regard to this bill. Deeming it to be one of very 
great importance, I voted yesterday to give the 
bill the usual course — to refer it to the Military 
Committee ; but as the House did not see proper 
so to refer it, I am very glad that we have now an 
opportunity of giving a kind, candid, and thought- 
ful consideration to the measure. I am entirely 
favorable to the object of this bill. I cannot see 
any reason why any man, of any color, who is able 
to raise his arm in defence of our nationality should 
not be permitted to do so. I do not see any reason 
why persons who are considered property by men 
in rebellion against the government should not be 
brought in some way into active co-operation with 
the government in its efforts to sustain its authority, 
if they are willing at this time to take their places 
on the side of the government. At the same time, 
I am deeply impressed with the suggestions which 
124 



APPENDIX. 125 

have been made by the gentleman from Tennessee 
[Mr. Maynard]. We have not only to consider 
exactly what is right and proper in itself, but in 
all measures of this character we must pay due 
deference to public sentiment, and to public preju- 
dice, if you please. We all know that the public 
mind is deeply imbued with a prejudice against 
white men and black men being brought into any 
terms of association which shall put them upon a 
basis of equality. I shall not go back to discuss 
the right of every man to himself. I endorse the 
doctrine of the Declaration of Independence to its 
fullest extent. And while I do not believe that the 
provisions of this bill as it is now presented will be 
abused, while I do not believe the President of the 
United States will ever permit a black man to 
command white men, while I have no idea that he 
is so ignorant of popular feeling and prejudice as 
to do so foolish a thing, yet I do see how, unless 
we throw some restriction upon the bill as it now 
stands, the men who wish to excite, to strengthen, 
and to disseminate this popular feeling against 
association with Africans will seize upon every 
point they can possibly lay their hands upon to 
accomplish that purpose. 

Mr. Mallory — Let me ask my friend from Indi- 
ana if he does not see that the President himself 
has not the power, under the provisions of this 
law, or of the existing law, to prevent this state of 
the case from occurring ? The gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, in this bill, puts white and black 



126 APPENDIX. 

soldiers upon an equality, because they are both 
subject to the rules and regulations of the army 
and to the Articles of War. Now, I ask him, if in 
battle there happens to be a colored colonel com- 
manding a regiment in a brigade, and the general 
of that brigade is killed, and the colored colonel 
comes to be the ranking ofificer in that brigade, would 
he not necessarily take command in that battle ? 

Mr. Porter — I ask my colleague to allow me to 
have read a proviso which I propose to offer to the 
bill, and which will obviate the objection made 
to it. 

Mr. Dunn — I will yield to hear it read. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

" But no person of African descent shall be admitted as a 
private or officer of any regiment in which white men are in 
the ranks, nor shall any person of African descent, in any 
case, be placed in command of white soldiers." 

Mr. Dunn — Mr. Speaker, I entirely accord with 
the object of that amendment ; I do not wish black 
men to be enlisted as soldiers in the ranks with 
white men, or put in command of white soldiers. 
I have no idea that the Secretary of War, to whom 
the authorship of the bill has been ascribed — 
whether rightly or not I do not know — or the Presi- 
dent, or any man on this floor, or any sensible man 
in the nation, wishes to place a black man in com- 
mand of white men, but I want that prohibition in- 
serted in the bill, so as to keep cavillers and ob- 
jectors from raising any such clamor against it. 



APPENDIX, 127 

Mr. Cox — Will the gentleman from Indiana per- 
mit me to say a word ? 

Mr. Dunn — Certainly. 

Mr. Cox — I call the attention of the gentleman 
from Indiana and of the House to a section of 
another act passed at last session of Congress, which 
seems to give the fullest discretion to the President 
to use the black man in any way he may deem 
proper, either to put him above white officers or 
above white men in the ranks. Therefore, I think 
that if this bill is to become a law, it should be 
referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, or 
somewhere else, that it may be licked into shape. 
I will now read, for the information of the House 
and of my friend from Pennsylvania [Mr. Stevens] 
the eleventh section of the act which I refer to : 

" That the President of the United States is 
authorized to employ as many persons of African 
descent as he may deem necessary and proper for 
the suppression of this rebellion ; and for that 
purpose he may organize them and use them in 
such a manner as he may judge best for the public 
welfare." 

There is no limitation. There is the fullest dis- 
cretion given. The President can do just what he 
pleases, concerning the black man, in this insurrec- 
tion. He may commission him as a colonel, a 
brigadier, or a major-general ; anything, anywhere. 
I therefore ask the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
now, with this new light, what is the use of this 
legislation ? I ask the gentleman from Indiana 



128 APPENDIX. 

whether this is not all superfluous, a ridiculous 
excess of legislation ? Why should we go into this 
matter now, when there is such full discretion 
allowed by the existing law ? 

Mr. Dunn — I will give to the gentleman a reason. 
I do not say that, under the statutes as they are, 
the President of the United States cannot organize 
persons of African descent, and receive them into 
the military service of the United States. I believe 
that authority does exist under the present statutes. 
But that very limitation suggested by my colleague 
[Mr. Porter] is not in the statutes, and I think it 
worth while to put it in. That is one reason. 

Mr. Diven — Must not the colored regiments 
authorized last year be officered by white men ? 
Did not the law make that requisite ? 

Mr. Dunn — I do not recollect that it did. It 
left the matter, to a great extent, to the discretion 
of the President of the United States. I have no 
idea that he would have commissioned any but 
white men, except under extraordinary circum- 
stances. If a company is wholly composed of 
negroes, I do not see why it should not have negro 
officers, including the captain, if he is qualified to 
command. But I do not wish colored men to be 
put into regiments with white men. I want to 
keep them as distinct as possible. And we have 
got to do it, out of just regard to the feelings of 
the soldier in the field, and out of just regard to 
the public sentiment of the nation. And if we do 
not do it, this measure, which is in itself beneficial 



APPENDIX. 1 29 

and proper, will be subjected to an odium that will 
cause it to be repealed. The proviso having been 
struck from this bill relieves it from what was an 
insuperable objection, in my mind, but I wish it 
further amended, so as not to permit the recruiting 
of any colored troops in the loyal slave States. 

Mr. Wickliffe then obtained the floor and ad- 
dressed the House for an hour. Mr. Lovejoy 
followed him, and in the course of his remarks 
yielded the floor to Mr. Dunn for ten minutes, who, 
in answer to Mr. Wickliffe, spoke as follows : 

Mr. Dunn — I am very glad the gentleman from 
Kentucky [Mr. Wickliffe] has had full freedom of 
debate upon this occasion. He seems to be a 
lingering relic of that dynasty which for so long a 
period tyrannized over this country. 

The gentleman ascribes to me a sentiment which 
I never entertained and never expressed. He states 
that I have abandoned my faith in the ability of the 
white men of the North to crush out this rebellion. 

Mr. Wickliffe — Will the gentleman allow me to 
correct him ? 

Mr. Dunn — I cannot yield. 

Mr. Wickliffe — I claim the right to correct the 
gentleman. 

Mr. Dunn — The gentleman refused to yield to 
me, and I must decline to yield now. 

Mr. Wickliffe — The gentleman misrepresents 

what I said, and I claim the right under the rules 

to correct him, 
9 



130 APPENDIX. 

The Speaker — The gentleman has not the right 
under the rules to make a correction without the 
consent of the gentleman who holds the floor. 

Mr. Dunn — When this rebellion broke out there 
was no man in this House more averse than I was 
to the employment of negroes in this war. I 
thought there was a loyal sentiment in the hearts 
of the white people at the South, which would de- 
velop itself during the progress of this war, and 
make itself efficient in sustaining the power of this 
government in every State of the Union. In this I 
have been disappointed as to the white men. But 
I find that there is in all those rebellious States a 
large population which, although their skins may 
be dark, yet have hearts in sympathy with my gov- 
ernment in this struggle. And if they are willing 
to brave the perils of war in defence of the nation, 
if they are willing to risk their lives in this war, in 
which they have so deep an interest, I see no reason 
why they should not take part with us in carrying 
it on. 

The gentleman puts a case, and I wish to call the 
attention of the House to it. The gentleman said 
that if a black captain should be taken prisoner we 
would wish to exchange him for a white rebel cap- 
tain ; and he speaks as if that would be a great 
outrage upon the rights of the white population. 
Sir, I believe that a black man, private or officer, 
who fights for my country, is better than a traitor 
to my country, though the traitor's Anglo-Saxon 
skin may be so white and so thin that you may see 



APPENDIX. 131 

through it the veins of his face. I see no reason 
why we may not place the man who fights for the 
country, not only upon the same platform, and 
claim for him a position as the equal, but as the 
superior of the man who fights against my coun- 
try. It is better to have a black skin than a black 
heart. 

I would suppose, from the remarks of the gen- 
tleman from Kentucky, that he would deem it an 
especial misfortune if a rebel should be shot by a 
black man. I should think, from his argument, 
that if his own son were fighting in this war, he 
would rather he should be shot down by a white 
traitor than for his life to be saved by a black 
man. Now, Mr. Speaker, I have a son in this 
war ; he is fighting on the right side, sir ; and 
I would rather his life should be saved by a 
true and loyal black man than that he should 
go down to the grave beneath the stroke of a white 
traitor. 

The gentleman, as I understood him, proposed 
to introduce a resolution to inquire into the con- 
duct of General Butler at New Orleans. I hope 
when he does that he will also extend his inquiry 
into the conduct of General Jackson at New Or- 
leans. Did he not lead black men there, and did 
he not, by their assistance, win a victory which has 
made his name immortal, and did he not thank 
them in his public orders for their excellent con- 
duct on that occasion ? Sir, when you attack the 
conduct of General Butler as to organizing and 



132 APPENDIX. 

arming negro troops, you must go back and attack 
also the memory of the hero of the battle of New 
Orleans of 1815. 

Mr. Wickliffe — Will the gentleman allow me to 
say a word ? 

Mr. Dunn — No, sir. I decline to yield. I un- 
derstand that General Jackson and his white vol- 
unteers in arms fought side by side at the battle of 
New Orleans with black men, not in the same 
companies, perhaps, but on the same field. And, 
sir, we know that Commodore Perry won his most 
brilliant victory on Lake Erie by the help of black 
sailors. We know too that in the Revolutionary 
War black men were used to fight on our side, and 
that they were also used to fight on the British 
side when they could be induced to espouse the 
cause of our enemies. We have the testimony of 
Commodore Stringham as to the value of black 
men in the naval service, and his judgment that 
it is proper to employ them in such service. You 
will recollect also the statement of the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania [Mr. Stevens] as to the testi- 
mony of Captain Woodhull in respect to the black 
men under his command, commending them for 
the spirit with which they handled the guns, and 
for the bravery and gallantry which they displayed 
in battle. We know, too, that the rebels use this 
class of persons in every way for accomplishing their 
purposes in this rebellion ; and when they cannot 
obtain their services voluntarily they force them, 
as they did at Yorktown, to take a front place on 
the ramparts. 



APPENDIX. 133 

Now, sir, I have another object in the employ- 
ment of these men, and I am willing here to avow 
it. It is this : we have not only to conquer this 
rebel country, but we have to hold it after it is con- 
quered. We have for a time to hold it by force of 
arms ; and the question arises whether we shall 
send our men of the North there to perish in South- 
ern swamps and sickly localities, or whether we 
shall make use of that population which, from 
their peculiar physical adaptation, can brave the 
malaria of that climate like alligators ? If they 
are ignorant of the use of arms, instruct them in 
that use. Teach their " hands to war and their 
fingers to fight." Are they so brutalized that 
they will not fight for their own liberty ? Shall 
we receive them and educate them to arms 
for this purpose, or shall we send our own sons 
there ? 

But the gentleman says that the employment of 
these people will turn this into a barbarous war. 
Why, sir, is it possible that these people, who for 
generations have been under the humanizing, civil- 
izing, christianizing influence of slavery, are still 
such barbarians that we cannot safely put arms in 
their hands [laughter] without the commission by 
them of barbarous outrages upon their beneficent 
masters ? What has become of the christianizing 
influence of slavery ? 

No, sir ; put arms in the hands of these men, 
and let them, if they will, shoot down the rebels, 
who would shoot down our brothers, our sons, and 
our friends. If you do not choose to have your 



134 APPENDIX. 

sons aided by such means, I do choose to have 
mine. My son was in the battle of Vicksburg, and 
there, I understand, black men, forced, perhaps, 
by their masters to take up arms against the cause 
they love, worked the guns of our enemies. Gen- 
tlemen rise here and denounce us because we pro- 
pose to secure every means we can to bring this 
war to a successful termination. What if white 
men can put down this rebellion ? Shall we not 
spare this precious white blood if we can find black 
men in the South who have a twofold inducement 
to take part in this contest ? Do you hold the 
white man of the North at a lower price than the 
market value of your slaves ? Their blood, the 
blood of our soldiers now in the field, is dear to 
our hearts. It is above price. We cannot estimate 
its value by all the treasures of earth. 

Now, sir, shall we hesitate in this matter ? We 
do not hesitate to fire into the forts of the South. 
We do not hesitate to destroy their ships, and all 
of their property which may be used against us 
in this war. We do not hesitate to strike down 
white men in arms against us. But we must pro- 
tect slave property, as it is more precious than the 
blood of our kindred and friends. Is this prop- 
erty, as it is called, to be held as more precious 
than the blood which courses in the veins of the 
noble sons of the North ? 

The gentleman said — and it is a statement fre- 
quently made by him — that the money which should 
have been paid to our soldiers or expended for 



APPENDIX. 135 

their benefit has been employed in feeding and 
clothing idle and lazy contrabands. I tried at the 
time to correct him. It is but a few days since 
that General Meigs, the Quartermaster-General, 
told me that such was not the case. He author- 
ized me to say so. Negroes are employed as 
teamsters and otherwise, and from their pay the 
government deducts a part, which goes to support 
those in the contraband camps. He told me also 
that they want more negro laborers than they can 
get here. The Navy wants them. The Navy has 
applied to him for them to serve on our ships-of- 
war and other vessels as stevedores and for other 
service, but he cannot furnish them. 

The gentleman said that the rebels had shot 
the negro prisoners taken down South. Certainly 
they have. But these negroes, I suppose, in his 
estimation, are not men. They are not human 
beings. They have not the rights of humanity. 
When the blacks espouse our cause, to help us 
fight our battles, and when they are taken prison- 
ers, they are not to be treated as prisoners of war. 
I want to know whether that is the treatment to 
which they are to continue to be subjected. I 
trust that it will never be submitted to. Let us 
demand that every man who fights for our cause 
shall be treated as a soldier, no matter whether 
his skin be white or black, whether he be a freeman 
or a slave. That is one reason why I am willing 
to pass this bill in the form desired by the Presi- 
dent of the United States, so that he shall have no 



136 APPENDIX. 

embarrassment when colored men are enlisted as 
soldiers, and the other side undertake to treat them 
contrary to the usages of war ; then should they 
shoot down the black soldiers, we will make white 
traitors answer in blood for blood. 



SPEECH DELIVERED BEFORE THE LADIES' 
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF ST. LOUIS, MAY 
2, 1863. 

[newspaper report.] 

Major Dunn, formerly a member of Congress 
from Indiana, and at present Judge-Advocate for 
the Department of the Missouri, was introduced by 
General Curtis. After congratulating the ladies on 
this manifestation of their devotion to their coun- 
try, he expressed his doubts whether, two years 
ago, an audience of either men or women, as large 
as the present, could have assembled in peace in 
St. Louis to proclaim their support of our govern- 
ment. This meeting marked the progress of events, 
and, he trusted, would prove a blessing to this city, 
to the State of Missouri, and to our country. He 
continued : " In the pledge which has just been made 
you declare that loyalty to your country forms a part 
of your allegiance to your God. God and your 
country are worthy to be associated in your loyal de- 
votion. In what country has woman been so blessed, 
so happy, as in the United States ? Where has she 
been so honored, so loved, so cherished ? Where 
has her influence been so potent and so beneficent ? 
Is it not a blessed thing for you, ladies, that your 

137 



138 APPENDIX. 

lot in this struggle has been cast north of this dis- 
puted line, and not among the shoeless, stocking- 
less, almost naked and starving, women of the 
South?" [Applause.] He said he did not appeal 
to their sense of duty to sustain their government, in 
a time like this, as a mere obligation of citizenship, 
"•Let those," he said, "who have had more difficul- 
ties of inclination to overcome than you have expe- 
rienced, go search the Scriptures for light, and by 
the aid of St. Paul, and learned commentaries, and 
church creeds, slowly and unwillingly arrive at the 
distasteful conclusion that it is the duty of a Chris- 
tian to obey the authority of his government, because 
St. Paul has said it is our duty to be subservient 
to the powers that be, as * the powers that be are 
ordained of God.' We love, honor, and obey our 
government because it is worthy to be loved, hon- 
ored, and obeyed. We love our government because 
it was organized by our patriotic ancestors, estab- 
lished by their sacrifices of blood and treasure, 
and has been to our fathers, ourselves, and our 
children a source of blessings numberless. We 
honor it for the wisdom of its organization, for the 
security it gives to civil and religious liberty, for 
its power, its dignity, its greatness, and its exalted 
position among the nations of the earth. And we 
obey our government because we love and honor 
it, and not out of a slavish obedience to an author- 
ity we despise. Gratitude is the emotion that 
swells our hearts when we contemplate our govern- 
ment. Gratitude to God that He has given us 



APPENDIX. 139 

such a country and such a government, and grati- 
tude to the patriots who established it, and to the 
heroes who are now braving the perils of the field 
to secure to us and to our children the blessings 
of a government that bloody-handed traitors are 
struggling to destroy." 

He asked what one of the ladies present would 
think, if, on returning home, her husband should 
meet her and gravely announce to her that he 
loved her. "The declaration," continued Major 
Dunn, " might not be either very novel or very 
startling. But after you were seated, suppose he 
should proceed to state that he had for a long 
time been very earnestly considering in regard 
to his duty to you ; that he had earnestly prayed 
over the subject, and that he had sought for light 
by an examination of the Scriptures, the best 
commentaries thereon, and his Church creed ; 
and finally he had come to the conclusion that 
marriage was a relation ordained of God, and in- 
asmuch as St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Colos- 
sians, third chapter, nineteenth verse, says ' Hus- 
bands, love your wives,' and Dr. Clark and other 
commentators on this text, and particularly Dr. 
Chalmers, one of the greatest divines of our 
Church, all unite in their expositions and teach 
that it is the plain duty of a Christian husband to 
love his wife, — and the rules of our Church, I find 
also, prescribe the same duty ; and although I 
have had great difficulties in making up my mind, 
and great struggles with my sympathies, inclina- 



140 APPENDIX. 

tion, and affections for a certain black-haired 
maiden in the South, yet I have finally been com- 
pelled to the conclusion that it is my duty as a 
Christian man to love my wife, and therefore 1 love 
you. [Great laughter.] How much would you 
give for such a love as that ? Is that the way a 
loving husband talks to a beloved wife ? Or does 
not he rather speak to her of the rich treasures of 
her heart's love which she gave to him in their 
youth ; of the comfort and consolation she had 
been to him in their weary pilgrimage through 
life ; of the children she had nurtured for him ; of 
their mutual joys and sorrows ; of the tenderness 
and affection, the love and devotion, which she 
had always, in health and in sickness, bestowed 
upon him ? The love of such a husband is not the 
result of a constrained sense of duty, but the nat- 
ural growth of a grateful and affectionate heart." 
He said he did not think the ladies would value 
any more highly a loyalty that had to be pricked 
into existence by sharp texts of Scripture than 
they would a love that had to be created by the 
same process. 

He remarked that some in this city who had 
lately heard the word of the Lord commanding 
them to go to Nineveh and cry against it, had fol- 
lowed the bad example of Jonah and taken the 
Tarshish route. Since the days of Jonah this had 
been regarded as a route dangerous to navigators. 
" Mighty tempests infest that sea," said Major 
Dunn, " shipwrecks are frequent, and great whales 



APPENDIX. 141 

are there. Perhaps, after these modern navigators 
have met with Jonah's mishap, and the depths have 
closed about them, and a few more seaweeds have 
been wrapped about their heads, they will cry from 
the whale's belly and promise better for the future." 
[Laughter.] 

He spoke of the misrepresentations that had 
been employed to deceive the Southern people ; 
said that if the Southern States had remained in 
the Union Mr. Lincoln could not, if he had desired 
have interfered with the institution of slavery ; 
that there was already a majority against him in 
the Senate, with every prospect of a majority in the 
House of Representatives against him also ; and that 
if the Southern Senators had retained their seats 
Mr. Lincoln could not have appointed even a 
second lieutenant in the army without the consent 
of an opposition Senate. 

He said this was not a war upon slavery, but a 
rebellion brought about by the slave States, and if, 
in the bloody struggle, slavery perished, let it per- 
ish, and let those howl over its downfall who had 
inaugurated the bloody strife. The government 
had to strike at slavery because slavery was a main 
support of the rebellion. If the slaves ceased 
to labor for the rebels, the rebels would have to 
work for themselves or starve. Take from them 
their slave labor and their armies must disband. 

He paid a glowing tribute to those Union men 
who, in this city, had promptly met and defeated 
the enemy here. He said that Boston had her 



142 APPENDIX. 

Statue of Hancock, New York of her Hamilton, 
Philadelphia of her Franklin, and in time to come 
grateful hands would erect in St. Louis the statues of 
Lyon, and Blair, and McNeil, and others, who here 
had been the brave leaders of the people in capturing 
the traitors of Camp Jackson. [Great applause.] 



AFTER-DINNER SPEECH DELIVERED AT 
ST. LOUIS, AT A DINNER GIVEN TO 
GENERAL GRANT, JANUARY 29, 1864. 

[newspaper report.] 

The President announced the first regular toast : 
"The President of the United States." 
Music — " The Star-Spangled Banner." 
Major Dunn, Judge-Advocate of the Department, 
was called upon to respond. He said the man who 
had been called to meet the gravest responsibilities 
of this generation was not long since known as '' A. 
Lincoln, Esq., Attorney and Counsellor at Law, 
Springfield, Illinois," but was now known as " A. 
Lincoln, President of the United States." [Great ap- 
plause.] " This fact " said he, " exemplifies the sim- 
plicity and democracy of our form of government. 
Rulers are not born to us, but selected from the 
mass of the people. Called as Mr. Lincoln was to 
assume the executive power of the government at 
a time of imminent peril to the nation, who shall 
say he has not done well ? Of course, he has not 
done all things for the best, for he is human. But 
who, of all our public men, would have done better ? 
He who, before his election, had never, perhaps, 

143 



144 APPENDIX. 

seen one thousand men in martial array, is now the 
commander-in-chief of the greatest army on the 
globe. He who had not before ever set his foot on 
a man-of-war, now commands a navy of which gun 
may answer to gun along our whole Atlantic coast. 
His predecessor, who wandered like a troubled 
ghost through the great halls of the White House, 
mumbling to himself that ' Washington was the 
first and I am the last of the Presidents of the 
United States,' turned over the government to Mr. 
Lincoln weak and feeble as traitors could make it ; 
our little army [a voice — * fifteen thousand '] 
scattered just where it could not be made available 
to suppress the rebellion, and our naval force on 
our Atlantic coast amounting, if I recollect 
rightly, to just twenty-seven guns. Contrast our 
feebleness then with our power now, and say 
whether the President, under whose administration 
all this change has been accomplished, is not enti- 
tled to the nation's gratitude. Let those cavil and 
find fault who will, history and posterity will do 
justice to the simple virtues, patriotism, and ad- 
ministrative ability of Abraham Lincoln. [Great 
applause.] But no one is more ready than Mr. 
Lincoln to acknowledge his obligations to the 
American people for the heroic devotion to the 
Union which they have displayed in this great 
struggle. He would claim nothing for himself, but 
give all praise to the people and that brave army 
of which we have such a galaxy of great com- 
manders here this evening. [Immense applause.] 



APPENDIX. 145 

When this great rebellion suddenly burst upon our 
astonished nation we looked around for leaders of 
our armies. Where were the men accustomed to 
high command and whose military experience and 
genius were an assurance of victory ? We knew 
them not, but men theretofore unknown as great 
commanders have come forth from the body of 
our soldiers and people, and now their fame fills 
the world. [Applause.] We have them here to- 
night. [Great cheering.] History has already 
recorded their deeds of imperishable renown, and 
the muse of history, pen in hand, is sitting in ex- 
pectation of soon having to record other deeds, 
which, great as they may be, can scarcely be hoped 
to exceed in grandeur those already recorded. 
[Applause.] This is the heroic age of the Repub- 
lic, and the events of this war will not only be 
recorded in history, but romance and story, poetry 
and song, painting and sculpture will unite their 
powers to make the heroes of this war immortal. 
[Applause.] He advised those present to preserve 
their tickets to this feast, for their grandchildren 
will be proud to know that their grandfathers had 
had the honor of sitting at the same festive board 
with the hero of Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and 
Chattanooga. [Greet cheering.] 

" As I have sat opposite to General Grant this 
evening and watched his thoughtful face, and 
remembered his great deeds and the great respon- 
sibility that now rests upon him, I have prayed to 
God to give him wisdom and strength in the time 



146 APPENDIX. 

of need. On him more than on any other com- 
mander now rests the hope of the nation for the 
victories without which we cannot have peace, 
[Applause.] He has a larger command than any 
other general, and those who know him best have 
greatest faith that he will prove equal to the high 
trust and never disappoint the hopes of the 
nation." [Great cheering.] 



MINORITY REPORT ON THE QUES- 
TION OF THE EXTENSION OF 
SLAVERY. 

(made by MR. DUNN IN THE INDIANA LEGISLA- 
TURE IN 1849.) 

The undersigned, members of the committee to 
whom was referred sundry joint resolutions against 
the extension of slavery, dissent from the report 
of the majority of said committee ; and in thus 
dissenting they have thought it due, alike to them- 
selves and to the subject, to give, in a brief man- 
ner, some of their reasons for so doing. 

The joint resolutions reported by the majority 
of the committee do not assert the power of Con- 
gress to exclude slavery from the territory in 
question by legislative enactment, nor do they 
contain any instruction to our Senators and Rep- 
resentatives in Congress to favor the exercise of 
any such power. They simply assert (what no one 
here denies) that the territory is now free, and that 
it should remain free, and conclude by recom- 
mending to our Senators and Representatives to 
vote for a joint resolution recognizing it to be free, 
and to use *' all constitutional means " to keep it free. 

147 



148 APPENDIX, 

It may be true that slavery does not now exist 
in this territory, and it may also be true that it 
never can exist there without the aid of positive 
law ; but the undersigned ask how long, in the 
absence of any restriction, would it be before the 
creation of such positive law ? Congress may declare 
it to be free, but will the mere resolution keep it so ? 
This is the question. 

With no restraint or limitation, the territorial 
legislature will have the power to legislate on the 
subject of slavery, as well as upon all other sub- 
jects. The people then inhabiting this territory 
will decide for themselves whether the institution 
of human slavery shall be tolerated among them or 
not. Every person knows that the soil and climate 
of a large portion of this territory is adapted to 
slave labor. If left free to go there with their 
slaves, it is not difficult to come to the conclusion 
that they will do so ; nor is it difficult to foresee 
that when there their interests, as well as their 
feelings, will prompt them to create the institution 
to which they were accustomed. This will be the 
result of the non-interference policy, adopted by the 
majority of the Committee. Nor in such an event 
would our Southern brethren be to blame for so 
doing. They have been accustomed to the institu- 
tion of slavery, and have been taught to regard it 
to some extent as a necessary evil, if not morally 
right. They are, therefore, an unsafe depository 
of the power of settling the question. That power 
is very properly vested in Congress. This terri- 



APPENDIX. 149 

tory is national property. It belongs neither to 
the North, the South, the East nor the West ; and 
its destiny should not be submitted to the exclusive 
control of any particular interest or section of the 
country. 

Every State in the Union is interested in its 
prosperity. The rapid increase in the population 
of this territory, the diffusion of general intelli- 
gence and liberal principles among its inhabitants, 
and the adoption by them of humane and liberal 
laws, will redound alike to the glory of the whole 
Union ; and no section of the country, or body of 
the people, should be allowed to engraft upon its 
institutions principles which, although they might 
suit their convenience, would be prejudicial to the 
interests of the Union at large. 

But it is said that Congress has not the power to 
exclude slavery from its territory. It appears to 
us that there is no doubt on this point. This 
power has been exercised from the days of Wash- 
ington down to the present time, and has never 
been doubted, ofificially, by any of the distinguished 
men who have been called to act upon it. Pro- 
visions of this character have been incorporated 
into numerous territorial governments, and the 
validity of the same remains unquestioned. 

It is too late fiow to controvert a principle which 
has been acted upon so often, and with such salu- 
tary effects. If Congress then has the power, why 
not recommend its exercise ? 

The undersigned believe that the only effectual 



1 50 APPENDIX. 

means of excluding slavery from this territory, is 
to apply to it the principles of the 6th Section of 
the Ordinance of 1787. Our own State was made 
free, and kept so, by the adoption of this ordinance. 
To its benign influence we are indebted for much 
of our prosperity and greatness. Shall we now 
repudiate it ? or shall we endorse it ? Are we pre- 
pared to say, by our refusal to recommend its 
adoption in this territory, that it has been an injury 
to us, or that we are unwilling to extend its bene- 
fits to others ? 

The undersigned believe that it is due from 
Indiana, occupying the position that she does in 
reference to this ordinance, and in view of the end 
proposed, to promptly endorse it, and recommend 
its adoption, whenever it may legally be done. 

In making this recommendation, the undersigned 
disclaim all intention or desire to interfere with the 
institution of slavery where it legally exists ; or to 
inflame or excite the public mind on the subject. 
But, believing the institution of slavery to be a 
great moral and political evil, and that its extension 
into this territory would operate prejudicially to 
the interests, the honor, and the glory of the 
Union, they believe it to be the duty of Congress, 
by prompt and efficient means, to check its further 
extension. 

But it may be said that the instruction to our 
Senators and Representatives to oppose the exten- 
sion of slavery by "a// constitutional means" is 
sufficient. The undersigned would prefer some 



APPENDIX. 151 

expression of our views and wishes less equivocal. 
It in fact amounts to nothing. It imposes no 
responsibility. It may be construed to suit the 
views or desires of the person desired to be in- 
structed. It is our duty to speak out, and to 
speak in language that cannot be doubted. If no 
such action is taken by Congress now, it will have 
to be taken at some future time, when such action 
may produce more fearful results than to be feared 
now. 

Whether a State tolerating slavery would be 
admitted into the Union or not, the admittance 
or refusal would alike produce heart-burnings and 
jealousy between the North and the South, greatly 
to be deprecated, and which, in the opinion of the 
undersigned, might be avoided by any authoritative 
declaration that slavery should not exist there. 
This course the undersigned believe should be 
adopted. 

They, therefore, cannot concur in the report 
of the majority of the committee ; but recommend 
the adoption of the joint resolution No. i, intro- 
duced by Mr. Julian, as a substitute for those 
reported by the majority of the committee. 

J. B. Julian, 
W. M. Dunn, 
G. W. Blakemore. 



RESOLUTIONS OF CONDOLENCE 
OF OFFICIAL BODIES OF WHICH 
GENERAL DUNN WAS A MEMBER. 



OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE COLUMBIAN 
UNIVERSITY. 

Resolved, by the Board of Trustees of the Colum- 
bian University, 

I. That we have received with sorrow the in- 
telligence of the death of our friend and col- 
league, General Win. McKee Dunn, and we now 
express our appreciation of his exalted character 
as a Christian, his fidelity in every official relation, 
and his devotion to the interests of the Columbian 
University. The University has lost a liberal 
patron, a wise counsellor, and a faithful friend. 

II. That this city and its people, in his death, have 
lost a beloved citizen and associate — a man who 
was inspired by every object designed to promote 
the prosperity and welfare of his fellow-men — who 
was filled with sympathy for the suffering and with 
the most liberal sentiments and purposes to pro- 
mote the education and training of men, in the 
school, the university, and the church, for the high- 
est usefulness in life. 

III. That we extend our heartfelt sympathies to 

152 



APPENDIX. 153 

the bereaved widow, the children, and relatives of 
the deceased, and that a copy of these resolutions 
be sent to them by our Secretary. 

IV. That we will attend the funeral in a body, 
and we direct that these resolutions be placed upon 
the records of the University. 



PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTION OF THE WASHINGTON 
NATIONAL MONUMENT SOCIETY. 

The Washington National Monument Society 
has learned with profound sorrow of the death of 
General Wm. McKee Dunn, one of its most honored 
and useful members, who has gone to his rest after 
an honorable and well-spent life, during which he 
has served his country in many important trusts, 
all of which he has discharged with ability and de- 
votion to the satisfaction of his countrymen and 
his government. 

General Dunn was one of the most earnest 
workers of the Society, and was regarded by his 
colleagues with sincere respect and affection. 

Be it therefore Resolved, That this Society offers 
to Mrs. Dunn its most earnest and respectful 
sympathy and the assurance of the deep sorrow 
with which its members deplore the great bereave- 
ment and share her grief. 

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Society be 
instructed to send a copy of this preamble and 
resolution to Mrs. Dunn. 

HoRATio King, 

Secretary. 



154 APPENDIX. 

MINUTE ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF MANAGERS 

OF THE PRESBYTERIAN ALLIANCE OF 

WASHINGTON CITY. 

Since the last regular meeting of the Board of 
Managers of the Presbyterian Alliance of Washing- 
ton City, General Wm. McKee Dunn, one of its 
Vice-Presidents and its most active and helpful 
members, having been called to his reward in 
heaven, the Board desires to express its apprecia- 
tion of his character and work. 

From the very inception of this Alliance, General 
Dunn gave to it his heartfelt interest, his time, and 
his gifts. It was at his house that the Committee 
on " Outlook for Sites " held its first meeting ; and 
from thence General Dunn sallied forth with the 
committee on a stormy wintry day to find a suit- 
able location for a church in the northeastern sec- 
tion of the city. It was his noble promise of five 
hundred dollars, in case the remaining required 
sum was raised for its purchase, which spurred on 
other givers to complete the sum needed ; and the 
last public meeting he attended was one held in 
behalf of the work of this Alliance, at which he 
made a most telling and admirable address. 

His name will ever be associated with the organ- 
ization of the Alliance, and his memory will always 
be cherished by those who had the privilege of 
being associated with him. Truly may it be said of 
him, " He rested from his labors and his works do 
follow him." 



APPENDIX. 155 

RESOLUTIONS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE 
NEW YORK AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

Resolved, by the Board of Trustees of the New 
York Avenue Presbyterian Church, That in the 
death of the late President of the Board — General 
Wm. McKee Dunn — we have reason to mourn the 
loss of one of the most faithful, competent, and 
agreeable members of the Board — one whose every 
talent was at the earnest service of the church, 
and whose kindly voice and manner and Chris- 
tian wisdom were of constant weight and value in 
the spiritual and financial welfare of the congre- 
gation. 

That his life as citizen, soldier, and Christian 
was exemplary and high, leaving a bright example 
to the world, and a just pride in his character to 
his country, his church, and his family. 

Resolved, That the Secretary cause these resolu- 
tions to be entered in the records of the Board, 
and a copy to be sent to the family. 



THE END. 



